LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



PERCY'S 

POCKET DICTIONARY OF 

Coney Island 

AN INDEX AND GUIDE TO 



RAILROAD AND STEAMBOAT ROUTES, HOTELS, AMUSEMENTS, 
RESTAURANTS, HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL FACTS, ' 
AND ALL OTHER THINGS IN AND ABOUT THIS 
resort; WITH AN APPENDIX ON BATH- 
ING, SWIMMING, AND THE 
SUMMER STARS 



EDITED AND COMPILED BY 

\^ TOWNSEND PERCY 



% 



With Maps and Jlhistrations 
SEASQN. OF 1880 

NEW TORK 

F. LEYPOLDT, 13 and 15 Park Row 

1880 



Copyright, 1880. 
By F. Leypoldt 



THE JoHH A. Gray Press, 

16 and 18 Jacob Street, 

New York. 






PREFATORY NOTE. 

Careful consideration has been given to the 
choice of subjects treated in this little book, 
and it has been my aim to make it as complete 
and trustworthy as " Appletons' Dictionary of 
New York," which I compiled, and which was 
the first hand-book of the kind printed in 
America. To this end nothing that appears in 
the body of the Dictionary is in any sense an 
advertisement, and no payment has been or 
will be received for it, either directly or indi- 
rectly. Whatever is an advertisement distinctly 
appears as such. 

It is too much to hope that entire accuracy 
could be secured in a first edition. Any correc- 
tions of errors which may be observed, and any 
suggestions which may tend to the improve- 
men t of the Dictionary will be thankfully re- 
ceived with the view of profiting by them in 
subsequent editions. 

I avail myself of this opportunity to thank 
those who have kindly assisted me by their 
prompt response to applications for informa- 
tion. TowNSEND Percy. 



HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY, 

For special information turn to the name of person or 
place, or to the very word expressing the object on which 
you want to be informed. If not given under that word, 
reference is made to the word where it is. 

For general information and starting-points, turn to the 
articles, ' ' Amusements, " " Geography, " " History, 
" How to See Coney Island in One Day," " Picnics," 
"Trip to Coney Island," "Hotels," "Restaurants," 
" Dinners," etc., which give the cues for further infor- 
mation. 

THE APPENDIX 

Contains Hints on Bathing and Swimming ; Surf styles ; 
Directions how to find the Summer Stars ; a Summer 
Calendar, for sun, moon and high water; and Time- 
Tables for Railroads and Steamboats. 



SECTIONAL MAP 

OF 

CONEY ISLAND. 

IN QUARTER-MILE SQUARES. 



I.— (Left-Hand Page.) West End. 
II.— (Right-Hand Page.) East End. 



PERCY'S 

POCKET DICTIONARY OF 

CONEY ISLAND. 



Amphitheatre. — [Map, N4] — A portion of the 
Manhattan Beach Bathing Pavilion on the west 
is inclosed on three sides but open toward the 
ocean, and is fitted with tiers of seats rising one 
above another nearly to the roof. A band of 
music plays here during the afternoon and even- 
ing, and it affords a sheltered and luxurious rest- 
ing-place from which to watch the amusing antics 
or petty mishaps of the bathers, and to make stud- 
ies of human nature as nearly " in a state of na- 
ture " as may be. The admission is ten cents, but 
it is free to those who purchase bath tickets. 

Amusements. — In a general way the amuse- 
ments at Coney Island would appear to be those 
peculiar to and naturally afforded by seaside re- 
sorts ; but the daily congregation of thousands of 
people of varying tastes has led to the establish- 
ment by speculators of any number of diversions 
not ordinarily attainable at the seashore. The 
average man, bent only upon obtaining relaxa- 
tion and rational amusement, will find it naturally 
enough in the alternate contemplation of the 
ocean, and the people by whom he is surrounded, 



12 AMUSEMENTS. 

or in listening to the orchestral music, and will 
perhaps supplement these quiet pleasures with a 
dip in the surf and a well-chosen repast. Mothers 
and children will find an inexhaustible fund of 
amusement in patrolling or camping down upon 
the sand at the water's edge, where the little ones 
can make futile efforts tu reach China by virtue of a 
toy shovel and via perpendicular excavations in 
the white-sanded shore. 

At a place like Coney Island, however, easily 
and cheaply accessible from several great cities, 
the throng of visitors is sure to include a propor- 
tion of restless spirits who are not satisfied with 
enjoyments or pleasures of so prosaic a nature, 
and among these are many who visit the Island, 
over-exert themselves, expose themselves reck- 
lessly to the sun, bathe too frequently, or remain 
too long in the water, fill their stomachs with un- 
wholesome food, indulge too freely in alcoholic 
beverages, and who find on returning home that 
they have aching heads and limbs or disordered 
stomachs, from which results they draw the very 
natural inference that the salt air does not agree 
with their constitutions, 

The list of amusements naturally begins with 
bathing. Music is to be heard at or near almost 
every building along the beach ; billiard-tables 
and bowling-alleys are to be found at several of 
the principal hotels ; shooting-galleries are every- 
where , archery practice and Aunt Sally at vari- 
ous places along the beach ; croquet-grounds at 
Brighton and West Brighton, and dancing at 
Feltman's Pavilion at West Brighton. Fishing, 
sailing, and rowing may be had at Point Breeze, 
at the extreme east of ihe island. Exhibitions of 
fireworks are given at some one of the hotels al- 
most every night. There are several " shows," 



BARBER-SHOPS. 1 3 

the principal ones, the Aquarium, Feltman's 
Theatre, the Midgets' Palace, the Camera Ob- 
scura, and the Observatory. There are two race- 
courses at the beach, belonging to the Coney 
Island Jockey Club and to Engeman, where good 
racing takes place at stated intervals. If you can 
find any pleasure in having your picture taken, 
that is obtainable ; and the greatest pleasure may 
be derived at table if you know what to eat, and 
the greatest discomfort if you do not. 

1^^ Each of the a?nttsements nientiotied above 
will be found descnbed at length tinder its appropri- 
ate heading. 

Aquarium (The) — [Map, 14] — is contained in a 
two-story frame building, directly east of Vande- 
veer's Hotel and the Plaza at West Brighton. It 
contains a good collection of fish and marine curi- 
osities in tanks, and Tom Thumb and his troupe, 
which comprises an assortment of trained birds, 
a man-fish, a woman-fish, " Punch and Judy," 
that child's wonder, and other similar attractions. 
There are two large halls in the building, which 
is about 158 feet long and 100 feet deep. In the 
cupola, which surmounts the structure, is placed 
a steam orchestrion of " lOO-instrument power." 
The place is open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., 
and the admission is ten cents to all parts of the 
building. At the east end is a space set apart 
for a Rhode Island clambake {see Clambakes). 
The Police Headquarters are also in this build- 
ing. 

Arbuckle, Comet Soloist, plays at (Cable's) 
Ocean View Hotel (which j-^^). 

Bader's Hotel. — See Grand Central Hotel. 

Barber-Shops will be found at Manhattan, 
Brighton, Cable's and other large hotels. 



14 BA TH. 

Bath is a suburban village on the Long Island 
shore of the Narrows, about two miles below 
Fort Hamilton. It is one of the old Dutch set- 
tlements on Long Island, and contains a number 
of substantial and roomy houses of the old style. 
Good board can be obtained here at reasonable 
rates, and Coney Island reached in a few mo- 
ments. Bath can be reached by trains of the 
Brooklyn, Bath & Coney Island Railway from 
Greenwood — connection to be made by taking 
Greenwood horse-cars from Fulton, Wall, and 
South ferries, and by boat from the Battery. 

Bathing. — A very large proportion of the visi- 
tors to Coney Island find the source of their 
greatest pleasure in the surf-bathing, and if care 
is exercised the profit equals the pleasure. There 
can be no question but that the bathing-houses 
and arrangements at the Manhattan Bathing Pa- 
vilion are the most luxurious on the island, but 
others approach them very nearly, and many per- 
sons find in the retirement and privacy of less 
frequented portions of the beach ample compen- 
sation for the somewhat primitive character of the 
facilities offered. Except that at the west end but 
little care is given to clearing the beach of the 
drift-wood and seaweed cast up by the tide, there 
is little to choose in the matter of location, *as 
from one extremity of the island to the other, the 
beach is equally smooth and safe, and the magnifi- 
cent surf of the sailie character. The old-fash- 
ioned bathing-houses are strung along the beach 
from West Brighton to the west end, under the 
direction of innumerable small hotel-keepers and 
speculators, and between these there is very little 
to choose. The uniform price for the use of a 
bathing-house and dress is 25 cents, but at a few 
of the rude places toward the west end, 15 or 20 



BA THIXG-SUI TS. 1 5 

cents only is charged, but 25 cents is the maximum 
price at the best places. At the Manhattan Beach 
Bathing Pavilion, Brighton Beach Bathing Pa- 
vilion, and at the Iron Pier, will be found the 
most luxurious bathing facilities, and fair bathing 
accommodations are to be had at Feltman's and 
at Tilyou's Surf House, the latter affected b}^ 
mothers and children. Details in regard to all 
these places will be found under their respective 
headings, {See also, Hints on Bathing, in Ap- 
pendix.) 

Bathing-suits. — According to Dr. Packard, the 
material should always be woollen, and flannel 
is decidedly the best. Those who do not swim 
will find it more comfortable to protect the skin 
of the arms and legs from sunburn by having the 
sleeves come down to the wrists and the trousers 
to the ankle. Swimmers will find it much more 
convenient, as well as safer, to wear short sleeves, 
wide at the shoulder, and trousers or drawers 
reaching only to the knees. There is nothing 
more hampering to one who is becoming a little 
tired than a heavy dress ; and it might make the 
diflference between danger and safety in the case 
of a man who had overestimated his powers, or 
who had been carried out farther than he in- 
tended. 

Foj- women. — According to Dr. Durant, the 
bathing-dress should be made of a woollen fabric, 
the warp of which is worsted, the woof serge. 
We particularly insist upon woollen as the mate- 
rial to be worn, as it retains the heat of the body, 
and therefore prevents a too rapid evaporation. 
Maroon and blue are the proper c(3lors, as they 
resist the corrosive and bleaching effects of the 
salt-water. The dress should consist essentially 
of two parts — a pair of pantaloons and a blouse. 



1 6 £A THING-HA TS. 

The latter should not fit too tightly ; the sleeves 
^ fastened loosely at the wrist, and slits cut in the 
garment just below the arm-pits. A belt of the 
same woollen stuff is attached to the blouse to re- 
tain it at the waist. The pantaloons should be 
short, upheld by suspenders, and should not be 
buttoned too tightly to the legs, as circulation 
would be thereby impeded. {See also, in the Ap- 
. pendix, SuRF Styles/?^ 1880.) 

Bathing-hats. — A broad-brimmed straw hat 
may be worn, but, says Dr. Durant, all cover- 
ings (such as oil-skin caps, so commonly worn 
by ladies to prevent the hair being wet), prevent- 
ing a free perspiration on the scalp, are injuri- 
ous, since the secretions from the skin are 
stopped, and the head has to perform more than 
its share of the work ; and also, on account of the 
increased cerebral circulation, all possible care 
should be taken to keep that part of the body at 
its habitual temperature. 

BaUuiig Shoes afford for women and children 
an excellent safeguard against the bruising of the 
feet by shells or pebbles, as well as against the 
heat of the sand, which is often intense. {See 
also, in Appendix, Surf Styles /(?r 1880.) 

Bt^^er's Hotel. — See West Brighton Beach 
Hotel. 

Billiards. — Devotees of this game will find ta- 
bles at hotels of almost every grade on the island. 
A word of warning : do not bet with gentlem.anly 
strangers, as their game is apt to improve marvel- 
lously at critical moments. There are no billiard- 
tables at Manhattan Beach, but at the Brighton 
Hotel Maurice Daly has sixteen good tables, and 
there are also tables at Cable's, Vanderveer's, the 
Sea Beach, Feltman's and many other hotels. 



BRIGHTON BEACH. I? 

The prices are about the same as those charged 
at first-class rooms in New York. 

Boarding-Houses. — There are really no board- 
ing-houses proper along the beach, although 
boarders are taken at some of the small and unat- 
tractive places at the West End. There is, of 
course, a variation in the rates at the principal 
hotels .for persons who remain any considerable 
part of the season, and board at some of the hotels 
near West Brighton may be had at from $15 to 
$20 per week. At almost all the hotels, however, 
you hire your rooms and take your meals a la 
carte., an expensive mode of living. There is 
really no such thing, at present, as good board 
at reasonable rates to be had^at Coney Island. 
At Bath (which see) good board may be had at 
fair rates, and it is within a few minutes' ride of 
the island. 

Boating. — See Sailing and Rowing. 

Bowling. — At the Brighton Beach Hotel, at the 
Sea Beach Palace, and at Feltman's Hotel, will 
be found excellent bowling-alleys, where those 
who care for this amusement may disport them- 
selves at about the ordinary prices charged in 
New York. 

Brighton Beach is the name given to that por- 
tion of the Island between the Concourse and 
Manhattan Beach. It is the very heart of the 
Island and is the resort par excellence of Brook- 
lyn people. It is easily reached from that city 
by the superb Ocean Parkway and the Concourse 
in carriages. The buildings here are the Brigh- 
ton Hotel, the Brighton Bathing Pavilion, and 
Engeman's Hotel and Pier, which are virtually a 
part of the Brighton Beach. Shooting galleries, 
peddlers, fortune-tellers, shows, etc., are allowed 



1 8 BRIGHTON BEACH BATHING PAVILION. 

on the beach, and if they are objectionable to 
some people yet they serve to give animation and 
color to the scenes, 

Brighton Beach Bathing Pavilion — [Map, 
L4] — is east of the Brighton Beach Hotel, and is 
a large two -story building. An addition 50 x 80 
feet has been made during the past year, and the 
general character of the bathing facilities greatly 
improved. There are now about 1200 bath-rooms, 
all on the second floor, the ladies' rooms on thQ 
east and the gentlemen's on the west. From 
each side an arched bridge is thrown out over the 
sand to the water's edge, thus enabling bathers to 
reach the water without crossing the beach. A 
life-raft or catamaran in charge of an able seaman 
is kept constantly in the water, and life-lines are 
in abundance. The bathing-grounds are illumined 
at night by an electric light. The price charged 
for use of bathing-suit and room is 25 cents, and 
for the care of valuables there is an extra charge 
of 10 cents, the system being the same as that in 
vogue at the Manhattan Beach Bathing Pavilion 
(which see). There are also hot and cold salt-water • 
baths in private rooms at 50 cents each. On the 
lower floor of this pavilion are a restaurant and 
bar and the Midgets' Palace (which see). 

Brighton Beach Fair Grounds. — See Enge- 
man's Race-Course. 

Brighton Beach Railroad.'^ 6>^ Brooklyn, 
Flatbush and Coney Island Railroad. 

Brighton Hotel [Map L4] is the chief hotel 
at Brighton Beach, and is the terminus of the 
Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island Railroad, 
commonly called the "Brighton Beach Road." 
It is a large and airy framed structure, 525 feet 
long, and variefs from three to five stories in 



BRIGHTON HOTEL. 1 9 

height. A wide porch on the first and a piazza 
on the second floor extend around the building, 
furnishing a fine promenade for the guests. On 
the first floor are commodious dining-rooms, 
where 2000 persons can be served at one time, 
and 20,000 persons fed in one day. There is a 
bar room in the rear, and a billiard-room con- 
taining sixteen tables, under the direction of 
Maurice Daly, and four bowling-alleys in the 
basement. The upper floors are reserved ex- 
clusively for the guests of the hotel proper. 
Here are about 400 sleeping-rooms, furnished 
with Eastlake furniture, handsomely carpeted, 
and finished in natural wood. There is gas and 
running water in every room. The sewerage of 
the hotel is by means of a series of iron tanks, in 
which the waste is deodorized and separated, the 
water discharged into the creek, and the solid 
matter made into fertilizers. The hotel is leased 
by James Breslin, of the Gilsey House, New 
York, and is managed by H. A. Chadwick, 
formerly of the Girard in Philadelphia, Baldwin 
in San Francisco, and Willard's Hotel, Wash- 
ington. The house is conducted on both the 
American and European plans, so-called. 
Rooms are rented without board at from $2 to 
$5 per day, and the standard rate with board is 
$5 per day. Slight concessions from these rates 
are made to parties desiring to remain for sever- 
al weeks. An excellent table-d'hSte dinner is 
served daily, including wine, at $1.50 a head. 
The Bullion Club and the New York Club have 
branch club-rooms at this house. The grounds 
in front of the hotel are beautifully laid out in 
greensward, intersected by numerous walks, and 
from a large music-stand directly in front of the 
house concerts are given every afternoon and 



20 BROOKLYN HORSE RAILROAD. 

evening- by Ad. Neuendorfs orchestra. The 
hotel is a place peculiarly affected by Brooklyn 
people, and is a capital family resort. The cook- 
ing and service is of the best, and the most 
perfect order and attention are guaranteed. 

Brooklyn and Coney Island Horse Railroad 
starts from Fulton Ferry, and the line is com- 
monly known as the " Jay, Smith and Ninth 
Street Cars," indicating the streets through 
which the road runs. The road skirts Prospect 
Park, and reaches the beach by running parallel 
with the Ocean Parkway on the west. The 
terminus at the island is at the Grand Union 
Hotel, in the rear of West Brighton Beach. The 
time occupied in the journey is more than an 
hour and a half. The fare is twenty-five cents 
excursion from the Fulton Ferry, and fifteen 
cents excursion from the City Line at Prospect 
Park. 

* Brooklyn, Bath and Coney Island Railroad 
starts from the main entrance to Greenwood 
Cemetery, and runs to a depot in the rear of 
West Brighton Beach, stopping en route at 
Locust Grove on Gravesend Bay to receive 
passengers from New York b)'^ steamer. The 
depot at Greenwood is accessible by horse-cars 
from the Brooklyn side of Fulton, Wall, South 
and Hamilton Ferries. This is sometimes called 
Gunther's road. — 1^° ^^^ Time-Table in Appen- 
dix. 

Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island Rail- 
road starts from the Long Island Railroad depot 
at Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues, and stops at 
Franklin Avenue, Bergen Street and Prospect 
Park, Brooklyn. The road is very straight, 
running almost due south from the city line, and 



CARNARSIE. 21 

is of the average gauge. The rolling stock is 
excellent, and the engines of the same large size 
as those run on the Pennsylvania Railroad. This 
is commonly called the Brighton Beach Road. 
The Flatbush Avenue station is accessible from 
Fulton Ferry via Flatbush Avenue horse-cars 
in about twenty minutes. From New York this 
road is also accessible via the Long Island 
Railroad .from Hunter's Point, reached by ferries 
from Wall Street, James Slip, and East 34th 
sStreet. Palace cars are run on this route. — 
'2^" See Time-Table iji Appendix. 

Cable's Hotel. — See Ocean View Hotel. 

Camera Obscura (The) is contained in a 
small octagonal building near the centre of the 
plaza at West Brighton Beach. An admission 
fee of ten cenls is charged, and about a dozen 
persons can stand in the room at one rime. When 
the doors are closed a series of moving pictures of 
the beach which are simply charming, are thrown 
on a revolving disk. The colors are heightened 
in brilliancy, the outlines delicately sharpened, and 
the miniatures are so distinct that the movements 
of the eyes and lips of persons half a mile away 
can be observed distinctly. This is one of the 
most pleasing as well as instructive sights on the 
island, and Has a practical value since any person 
losing children or friends can locate them at once 
if they are anywhere on the beach. 

Carlberg's Orchestra plays at the Sea Beach 
Hotel (which see). 

Carnarsie, a village on Jamaica Bay, Long 
Island, noted for its fish and clams, with which 
the bay abounds, and from which the inhabi- 
tants derive their means of living. There are 
one or two fair hotels, and in summer steamers 



22 CA UriONS. 

ply between it and Rockaway on the opposite 
side of the bay. It can be reached from East 
New York byway of the Brooklyn and Rockaway 
Beach Railway — connections to be made by 
Brooklyn horse-cars from Fulton, Roosevelt, and 
Grand Street ferries, and by rapid transit trains 
from South Ferry, The time occupied in getting 
there is something over an hour. Fare for the 
round trip, twenty cents. 

Cautions. — See articles on Bathing and Swim- 
ming (Cautionary), in Appendix. 

Children. — See Amusements ; and in Appendix, 
under Hints on Bathing. 

Children's Toy Shovels and Pails can be 
bought at the stands in the main halls of Man- 
hattan, Brighton, and other hotels, and at out- 
side stands scattered along the beach. Prices 
range from ten to twenty cents. 
Chowder. — See Restaurants. 
Clambakes, popularly so-called, are a myth, 
since the Coney Island Clambake consists of 
roasted clams, and the Rhode Island Clambake 
of a variety of steam-cooked food. Without 
stopping to quarrel with these misnomers, how- 
ever, it may be safely asserted that while they are 
both luxuries in their way, the Coney Island 
Clambake is no more to be compared with the 
Rhode Island Clambake, than corned pork with 
canvas-back duck. The first is achieved by 
roasting hard-shell clams in hot wood ashes until 
the shells crack with the heat, when they are 
served piping hot, and entrusted, with a confi- 
dence which is usually misplaced, to the hungry 
guest. If he goes not the way to eat clams he will 
perhaps deluge them with vinegar or pepper or 
^alt or catsup, or heaven knows what atrocious 



CLAMBAKES. 23 

conglomeration of condiments and sauces, and 
effectually extinguish the identity of the precious 
clam. If, on the other hand, he is a true lover of 
this choice mollusk, he will melt a table-spoonful 
of butter, add a pinch of salt and the juice of half 
a lemon, preserving carefully any of the juice of 
the clam which is obtainable, and after having ex- 
tracted the roast clams from the heap of shells 
and ashes in front of him, dip them in this sauce, 
and eat them with dry French bread and thankful- 
ness of heart. Roast clams, as these are properly 
called, are by no means to be despised. A Rhode 
Island clambake in its perfection, however, offers 
to the epicure such a feast as Brillat Savarin's 
genius in its wildest flights never even dreamed 
of. The mode of cooking the edibles which go to 
make up this toothsome repast will in great meas- 
ure explain the unique merits which the cooked 
food possesses. A huge wood fire having been 
built on a flat stone oven, the stones in time be- 
come nearly white hot and the wood reduced to 
living coals. This oven is then smothered with a 
heap of fresh seaweed, drawn from the water, damp, 
salt, dripping sweet brine and gemmed with tiny 
shells. Upon this couch thus prepared a layer of 
soft shell dams, oysters, spring chickens (split as 
if for broiling), green corn, and sweet potatoes 
are reverently laid to rest, another layer of sea- 
weed placed upon them, a second layer of similar 
food on that, and so on to the end. Presently 
the whole mass, penetrated by the great heat of the 
oven, begins to steam gently, delicious odors 
mingle with the sea breeze, and, if you can appre- 
ciate the esoteric poetry of the clam, you give 
yourself up to dreams of bliss unutterable, with 
the profoundly consoling underlying assurance 
that when yon mass of seaweed gives up its prey, 



24 CLAMS. 

all your dreams will be more than realized. When 
the " bake " is ready to open, the food will be found 
steamed to a turn, the oysters and clams opening 
their shell-mouths to be removed, the dainty flesh!; 
of the chickens ready to drop at a touch from their: 
bones, the "Carliny" potatoes bursting their 
jackets, the milky kernels of the corn swollen 
with a plethora of milky sweetness, and the whole 
delicately seasoned with the briny exhalations of 
the perished seaweed. You will know how to 
make the attack without instruction, and the only, 
permissible accompaniment to such a feast is the 
very dryest of " Extra Dry." It is manifestly im- 
possible to attain this degree of perfection where 
the "bake" is concocted by rude hands for hire, 
but at Point Breeze Pavilion, accessible via Ma- 
rine Railway, fare five cents, a capital Rhode Island 
Clambake is served at five p.m. daily, at seventy- 
five cents a head. Drink good Milwaukee lager 
with it. At the Aquarium also a Rhode Island 
clambake of fair quality is served daily (all day) 
at fifty cents a head. Roast Clams are to be had 
at every restaurant on the island at a uniform 
price of forty cents a dish. Those served at Rav- 
enhall (which see) are highly esteemed by male 
connoisseurs. 

Clams. — See Clambakes ; Dinners ; Fish Din- 
ners ; Restaurants. 

Clothing for the Sea-Shore. — In view of the^ 
frequent and sometimes sudden changes in i 
weather which occur at the seaside during the 
summer months it may be of value to those con- 
templating a stay of several days at the beach to 
heed the following suggestion of Dr. Packard, as 
regards the clothing most suitable for the place 
and season : " It is better always to wear woollen 



CONE Y I SLA ND. 2 5 

lothing, however light and loose in texture ; 
nd thin gauze merino undershirts, worn next the 
kin, afford a great safeguard against the check- 
ng of perspiration, or chilling in case of a sud- 
len fall of the temperature. Caution should 
ilso be observed at night, when it is often im- 
jrudent to walk or drive without extra wraps at 
land." See also Bathing-suits. 

Olubs.-^The Coney Island Jockey Club, the 
Jnion Club, the University Club, and the Union 

eague Club of New York, all have private dining 
ind reading rooms for the accommodation of their 
nembers only at the Manhattan Hotel. At the 
[Brighton Hotel, the Bullion Club of New York, 
md the New York Club have similar quarters. 

Compass. — See article on Summer Stars (Pole 
Star) m Appendix. 

Concourse (The) — [Map, I-J4] — is the wide 
asphalt drive and walk connecting West Brighton 
and Brighton Beaches. It is a smooth hard road- 
way about half a mile in length, and is intersected 
by the Ocean Parkway. Park wagons are con- 
stantly traversing it, fare five cents. It is main- 
tained by the City of Brooklyn, and no buildings 
are permitted between it and the ocean. Two 
rustic cottages have been erected on the water side 
near the centre as a resting-place for promen- 
aders. 

Coney Island. — Some persons hold that this 
name was derived from the number of rabbits or 
conies which originally populated the island, 
others that it came from one Coneynen, an early 
Dutch settler, and a few that it is a corruption of 
Coleman, one of Hendrik Hudson's men who was 
murdered here. The former is probably the 
correct opinion, as the island, at the time of its 



26 CONEY ISLAND IN ONE DA Y. 

discovery over 270 years ago, was hilly, covered 
with stunted cedar trees, beach plums and grape- 
vines, and populous with rabbits. The water- 
line at that time is supposed to have been two or 
three miles farther seaward than it is at present. 
See also History and Geography, 

Coney Island in One Day. — See How to See. 

Coney Island Trip. — See Trip to. 

Coney Island Creek, so called, is an arm of 
the sea, or a tidal channel flowing through salt 
marshes, dividing Coney Island from the main- 
land on the north, and joining the waters of 
Gravesend and Sheepshead Bays. There is good 
bass fishing to be had in the Creek. See Fish- 
ing. 

Coney Island Jockey Club was incorporated 
June, 1879, by a number of gentlemen who are 
prominent in the American Jockey Club and 
sporting matters generally. Leonard W. Jerome 
is the president, and J. G. K. Lawrence sec- 
retary. The New York office of the Club is at No. 
25 East 26th St. The race course, opened in June, 
1880, for the spring meeting, is situated north of 
the Manhattan Hotel, across the head of Sheeps- 
head Bay, fronts on Ocean Avenue, and the grounds 
comprise 112 acres of fine sandy loam soil. It is 
three quarters of a mile from the beach ; the N. Y. 
and Manhattan Railroad runs within 200 yards of 
it ; the Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island 
(Brighton Beach) Railroad within 400 yards ; the 
Ocean Parkway is within a square of it, and a 
branch of the Marine Railway runs from Manhat- 
tan Beach across a bridge built across the bay 
almost to its gates. There is an elaborate entrance, 
a Grand Stand, weighing offices, saddling sheds, 
judges' stand, timers' stand, and music stand. 



or THE 

CONEY ISLAND JOCKEY CLUB 
RACECOURSE 

3/4 Mile Noitk of the Beach. 




CULVER'S. ^9 

These buildings and the disposition of the en- 
losed space will be found on the diagram. The 
buildings are all picturesque structures in the 
Ttiodified Queen Anne style of architecture, and the 
whole aspect of the place charming. Two meet- 
ngs of six days each are held in June and Sep- 
ember, at which selling races, sweepstakes, steeple 
:hases, and hurdle races are given. Among the 
jvents, the Coney Island Derby and the Coney 
sland Cup are likely to become famous. The 
jest stables in the country are represented, and 
ood racing may always be expected. The club 
ntends building a new club house in the Queen 
A.nne st)de adjoining the Manhattan Hotel, where 
hey now have temporary quarters. The initia- 
ion fee is $50 and the annual dues $25, but mem- 
)ers of the American and Maryland Jockey Clubs 
do not pay initiation fees. The capital stock of 
he club is $250,000, most of it invested in the 
ands and buildings of the association. Admis- 
sion to the course during the race-meetings is as 
follows. To tne Field, 50 cents ; Field and 
Open Stand, $1 ; Grand Stand and everywhere, 
$2.50 ; Lady's Ticket, all privileges, $1 ; A badge 
entitling the wearer to all privileges during the 
six days of the meeting, may by purchased for $12. 
Conterno's Band. — ^^^West Brighton Beach 
Hotel. 

Cow (Mechanical). — See Plaza. 

Cramp. — See article on Swimming, in Appendix, 

Croquet. — Good grounds and the implements 
of this game will be found at Brighton Beach and 
at Paul Bauer's West Brighton Beach Hotel, ad- 
joining the Plaza. The use of the grounds and 
implements is charged for at moderate rates. 

Culver's. — West Brighton Beach was formerly 



30* DANCING. 

known as Culver's Beach, and even now, the 
Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad is 
called "Culver's Road," after its President, Mr, 
Andrew R. Culver, who was the first to discover 
the possibilities of Coney Island as a summer 
resort, and to open it up to the public. 

Dancing. — At Feltmann's Hotel at West Brigh- 
ton there is a large dancing hall where dancing is 
kept up from 2 to 11 p.m. The admission is 
twenty-five cents for men, but women are admit- 
ted free. The place is a resort .mainly for Ger- 
mans of the middle class, and although there is a 
total lack of ceremony, there is no rudeness or 
disorder met with in the " ball-room." 

Dangers. — See articles on Bathing and Swim- 
ming (Cautionary), in Appendix. 

Dieter's [Map I-J4] is an ornamental frame 
building near Ocean Parkway, and in the rear of 
the Concourse. It is a restaurant, kept by one 
Dieter, a well-known Brooklyn caterer, and is 
patronized principally by persons driving down 
from Brooklyn. 

Dinners. — " To dine well at a moderate cost," 
says " Appletons' Dictonary of New York," "is 
an art not to be taught in books, albeit much has 
been written on the subject. To select from a 
long and varied bill of fare those dishes which har- 
monize, and each of which accents and enchances 
the enjoyment to be derived from the others, re- 
quires a taste both instinctive and acquired. Two 
men may enter a restaurant where the cooking is 
unexceptionable and the service perfect, and 
order their dinners. It is not unlikely that the 
one will dine badly off a villainous collection of 
viands, each perfect in its way, while the other will 



DINNERS. 31 

dine well at half the cost, from his superior taste 
and knowledge of the gastronomic art." 

All that can be done here is to indicate the 
special features of Coney Island dinners and to 
leave the hungry man to his own resources and to 
his digestion. Remember, first, that at all restau- 
rants of the better class one portion of any dish is 
ample for two persons, and in order to avoid any 
mistake write " one portion " on your order. A 
reference to " Restaurants " elsewhere will indi- 
cate the fact that the variation in restaurant 
prices at Coney Island is so small that you may 
select any restaurant in which to dine irrespective 
of that consideration, and, where the appearance of 
the dining-room and service attract you, enter in. 
If, however, chance or other circumstances lead 
you into one of the lower-class restaurants, you 
will fare best by confining yourself to clams and 
fish which they cook fairly well everywhere on the 
beach, and by carefully avoiding their entries, etc. 
Many persons will find that they can dine more 
cheaply and better by patronizing the iable-d'hdte 
dinners at a fixed price. {See Table-d'hote Din- 
ners.) 

A mistaken idea prevails among many people 
that two persons cannot dine at one of the first- 
class hotels without the expenditure of anywhere 
from five to ten dollars. The best way perhaps 
to indicate the folly of this will be to print one 
or two menus for a modest dinner, with the 
prices. 

Dinner for t%vo persons at Manhattan Beach Hotel. 

Little Neck clams raw, 2 portions $0 50 

Soup Bisque of Crabs, I " 40 

Baked Bluefish, i " 45 

Mashed Potatoes, i " lo 



32 DINNERS. \ 

Roast Lamb. i portion 60 

Green Peas, i " 20 js 

Lettuce Salad, i " 25 'I 

Meringue Glacee, i " 3° | 

Coffee, 2 cups. 20 l! 

Total „ •-- .$3 00 ' 

The same dinner at the Brighton Beach Hotel 
would cost $2.70, or ten percent less. Wine or 
beer is of course at discretion, and costs about the 
same as at New York hotels of the same grade. 

Many persons would find their appetite satis- 
fied before reaching the end of the menu given 
above or a similar number of courses, and the 
following will prove a guide for such : 
Dinner for tzvo persons at Brighton Beach Hotel. 

Consomme Soup, i portion $0 25 

Boiled Sheepshead, Sauce Hollandaise, •' 

I portion (includes Potatoes) 60 ■ 

Roast Ribs of beef, i portion. . 40 

String-Beans, i " 20 

Coffee, 2 cups 20 

s^otal $1 65 

This will prove ample for two persons with or- 
dinary appetites, and at the Manhattan Hotel 
would cost say $1.80. 

It will be apparent at once that these combinr, 
tions of viands may be varied almost indefinite!} ' 
added to or omitted, but with the exercise of a, 
little taste and discretion two persons can dine' 
well at any restaurant on the beach for from $2 
to $3, without wine, and by patronizing a table- 
(Thote that may be had included for the same 
price. {See also Fish Dinners ; Clambakes; Res- 

TATJKANTS ; LOBSTERS ; FeFS.) 



EXPRESS. 33 

Donkeys. — A drove of small donkeys will be 
found near the Concourse, in the Plaza at West 
Brighton Beach. They may be rented for a small 
sum for the use of children, and are always at- 
tended by a boy driver. 

Drug Stores— The principal drug stores on the 
island are in small pavilions in the plaza at West 
Brighton, in front of the Brighton Hotel, and in 
front of the Manhattan Hotel. Prices are about 
the same as at first-class drug stores in New York. 

Ebb. — See High Water. 

Electric Lights are in common use along the 
beach, and serve to illuminate the water for bath- 
ing purposes, and the grounds in front of the 
Manhattan and Brighton Hotels, the Iron Pier, 
and the Plaza at West Brighton. The light is 
very white and rather ghastly in its effects 

Engeman's Hotel. — See Ocean Hotel. 

Eng-eman's Pier is a wooden structure ex- 
tending out over the ocean for a distance of three 
or four hundred feet. It is not intended as a 
landing place for steamers, but is used for restau- 
rant purposes and for the accommodation of pic- 
nic parties who bring their own lunch and desire 
to supplement the same with beer, clams, etc. 

Engem.aii's Race-Covirse [Map KL 3] is the 
-ame commonly applied to the Brighton Beach 
i'air Grounds Course, in the rear of Engeman's 
and the Brighton Beach Hotels. The track has 
been considerably improved during the past year. 
Three days of very fair racing are given every 
week during the season. 

Express — O'Connor's Coney Island Express 
I forwards packages to any part of the island at 
reasonable rates. The offices are at 7 Fulton 

3 



54 £y£ GLASSES. 

Street, 5 Hudson Street, 7 New Church Street, 
New York, and 13 Fulton Street, Brooklyn. 
Packages are delivered at and collected from 
all the principal hotels on the Beach. 

Dodd's Express takes baggage from New York 
to Manhattan Beach, twice daily, aj 50 cents per 
package. 

Eyeglasses. — See Pedlers. 

Faintness. — See Hints on Bathing, in Appen^ 
dix. 

Fashions. — See Surf Styles, in Appendix. 

Fees. — It is not of course necessary to fee the 
waiters and attendants at Coney Island hotels 
any more than it is at any other hotel, and there 
can be no two opinions about the system being 
all wrong. Nevertheless it is one which exists, 
and a well-invested dime or quarter will fre- 
quently secure for you added comfort and atten- 
tion quite out of proportion to the amount laid 
out. If you are a frequent visitor at any one res- 
taurant or hotel on the island, and neglect to re- 
member that the waiter " hath an itching palm," 
you will subsequently be made unpleasantly 
aware- of your short-comings. If you are only a 
casual visitor, and do not expect to return soon, 
fees may as well be omitted. 

Feltman's Hotel — [Map, H4] — is a large frame 
building at West Brighton Beach, which is largely 
patronized by the middle classes, and espe- 
cially by Germans. There are large dining- 
rooms, bar-rooms, and lunch tables on the lower 
floor, and on the upper two large halls. One of 
these, 60 X 200 feet, is set apart for dancing, and 
music is provided for that purpose daily, from 
2 to II P.M. Admission to this hall is fixed at 25 
cents for men, but women are admitted free. 
The dancing is marked as much by vigor as by 



FELTMAN'S THEATRE. 35 

grace, and the prevailing etiquette elastic rather 
than rigid. 

The second hall, erected this year, is 300 x 60, 
and is used as a theatre. There are billiard- 
tables and bowling to be had at this house. The 
prices are a trifle lower than at other hotels in 
the vicinity, and the cooking rather of the mod- 
ern German school. Something over 200 bath- 
rooms are attached to this hotel.J^ 

Feltman's Theatre [Map, H4], built 1880, is 
in the second story of a frame building, adjoin- 
ing his Hotel on the east (see Feltman's Hotel). 
It is under the direction of Prof. Seemann, of 
Berlin, who is what may be called a scientific won- 
der-worker. His performances not only include 
all the tricks of the ordinary magician, but he 
uses electrical instruments to assist him, and 
thereby is able to accomplish many very cunning 
changes. He uses an electro-motor for musical 
effects, engaging instruments that are affixed in 
different parts of the theatre. His daughter, 
Miss Seemann, floats in the air without the aid of 
any rod or pole and without any support what- 
ever, certainly without any that is visible to the 
'spectator upon closest inspection. He has dis- 
solving views upon an entirely new principle, in 
which he produces water fountains, the jets of 
which spout water in many different colors. He 
will also produce on the screen the photograph 
in large size of any persons who choose to hand 
him their cartes de visite for that purpose. 

Two born blind musicians also appear. One is 
a violinist named Schafer, of Bremen, who com- 
poses his own music. The other is a pianist, 
Werpach, a Swiss, claimed to be equal to JosefFy. 
He is also a performer on the cello. They appear- 



36 FIREWORKS. 

in solos and duets. The performances are in 
English, and the price of admission is 25 cents. 

Fireworks. — Exhibitions of fireworks are giv- 
en at Manhattan, Brighton, and West Brighton 
Beaches, usually once a week at each place dur- 
ing the season. Advertisements in all the daily 
papers announce the exact dates of these events. 
A good way to see the fireworks to advantage is 
by taking the Rockaway boat down and back 
during the evening, and, passing along the Coney 
Island shore, view them from the steamer's deck. 

Fish Dinners. — The one glory of the restau- 
rants on Coney Island is that the best edibles they 
furnish, the cheaper as well as the most expensive, 
are fish and clams. At almost any place you 
may select, however rough the service, these 
articles of food are very sure to be well cooked, 
but as the prices are pretty much the same every- 
where, it is as well to patronize a first-class house. 
At Manhattan Pavilion and at Point Breeze 
(which see) they make a specialty of fish dinners. 
Blue-fish, striped bass, sea bass, eels, flounders, 
weak-fish, fheepshead, Spanish mackerel, sole, 
black-fish, king-fish, and whitebait may all be 
had at the island, and preceded by a few Little 
Neck clams, you may eat whichever you like and 
as much as you like, and have them cooked to 
suit your taste. See Clambakes, Dinners and 
Restaurants. 

Fishing — The opportunities for good fishing in 
and about New York are not many, but among 
the best are those afforded at or near Coney 
island. If you wish to troll for blue fish or Span- 
ish mackerel there are capital grounds off Rocka- 
way Beach, and your best plan is to go down to 
Point Breeze {which see), pass the night at the 



GEOGRAPHY. 37 

Pavilion, and having made your arrangements for 
a sailboat {see Rowing, Sailing), crew, bait, 
lunch, etc., over night, make an early start in the 
morning. If you are after bass, you can find good 
fishing in Coney Island Creek and Sheepshead 
Bay, starting out from the Pavilion at Point 
Breeze ; or you may take the Prospect Park and 
Coney Island Railway to Van Sicklen's Station and 
stop at " The" Alston's Hotel," where the rates 
for full board are from $2 to $3 per day, and fish 
in the Coney Island Creek. Rod and reel and 
crab bait are used If you meet with the pro- 
verbial " fisherman's luck," the fresh air and the 
capital " good cheer" obtainable at either of these 
places will well repay you for the trip. 

Floating. — See article on Swimming, in Appen- 
dix. 

Geography. — Coney Island is the extreme 
western end of a great outlying sand-bar, broken 
by inlets, which extend along the southern coast 
of Long Island for nearly ninety miles. Its dif 
ferent sections are known as Coney Island, Peli- 
can, Rockaway, Hog, Long, Crow, Jones, Oak 
Island, Fire Island, and Great South beaches. 
Coney Island is bounded on the north by Graves- 
end Bay, Coney Island Creek, and Sheepshead 
Bay, and on the south by the Atlantic Ocean. It 
is divided on the east from Pelican Beach (or 
Barren Island) by Plumb Inlet, which connects 
Sheepshead Bay with the ocean. The western 
extremity of the island is known as Norton's 
Point, and the eastern extremity as Point Breeze, 
The island is subdivided into West End, West 
Brighton, Brighton and Manhattan Beaches, each 
of which will be found described elsewhere. The 
entire island is a sandy beach, devoid of any nat- 



38 GILMORE'S BAND. 

ural growth other than beach grass, and the main- 
land to the north of Coney Island Creek is com- 
posed of extensive salt marshes. The island is 
about eleven miles directly south of the city of 
New York, although the distance from the Battery 
to Norton's Point is only about eight and a half 
miles as the bird flies. The average width of the 
island is not above half a mile, (See also History.) 

Gilmore's Band, — See Manhattan Hotel. 

Goggles. — See Pedlers. 

GrafuUa's Band. — See Iron Pier. 

Grand Central Hotel — [ Map, J4] — is an 
ornamental three-story frame building, surround- 
ed with balconies on each floor, and ample fa- 
cilities for the temporary care of horses and car- 
riages. It is on Ocean Parkway, near its junc- 
tion with the Concourse, and is frequently called 
Bader's Hotel. There are about 40 rooms, nicely 
furnished, hot and cold water on each floor, and 
gas in every room. Rates for rooms from $2 to 
$3 per day. The restaurant will accommodate 
about 150 persons at one time, and the house is 
a pleasant and attractive stopping-place. 

Grand Union Hotel [Map I3] is back of the 
Plaza at West Brighton, and east of the Depot of 
the Brooklyn, Bath and Coney Island Railroad. 
The Brooklyn horse-cars have their terminus at 
the east end of the hotel. The building is three 
stories high, plainly furnished, and contains 
about 100 sleeping-rooms, which are rented at 
from $2 to $3 per day. The house is also on the 
American plan, and gives fair board at $3 per day, 
or $15 to $20 per week. It is kept by A. 
Chamberlain. 

Gunther's Road.— 6*f^ Brooklyn, Bath and 
Coney Island Railroad. 



HIGH WATkR. 39 

Half-Way House — [Map, D4] — is a small frame 
building near the landing of ^the West End Pier. 
It has a bar and restaurant at cheap prices. 

Headache. — See Hints om Bathing, in Appen- 
dix. 

High, Water. — The time chosen for bathing, 
says Dr. Durant, should immediately precede 
or coincide with that of high water, for then we 
have the advantage of easy access to the ocean 
and the least possible exposure in returning to 
the bath-house ; moreover, the water is then most 
free from the impurities which it contains at low 
tide. Let us briefly explain why the tidal pheno- 
mena take place in the same way at two points 
upon the earth's surface which are diametrically 
opposed : What first attracts our attention is the 
ebb and flow of the waters. These oscillations 
are periodical. The water flows toward one por- 
tion of the earth during the space of six hours ; 
this constitutes the rising of the tide ; it then re- 
mains stationary for about fifteen minutes ; it is 
now called high water. From this it begins to re- 
cede. The time taken by the water to return to 
its lo\Vest point is about the same as it occupied 
in rising to the highest ; this is termed low tide 
or full ebb. After remaining at this point for a 
quarter of an hour, it again resumes its former 
motion, and so continues in its oscillations. 
During a lunar day (a space of twenty-four hours, 
fifty minutes — the time elapsing between the 
moon being over the meridian of her place and 
returning to it), the tides have changed twice. 
From this it follows that the tides are daily 
fifty minutes later, that is, if on a certain day at 
any place it be high water at i p.m., on the follow- 
ing day it will be high water at 1.50 p.m., the 
day after at 2.40 p.m., and so on." 



40 HISTORY. 

History. — At first glance it might seem that 
the history of a sand-bank like Coney Island 
could scarcely present any features of special in- 
terest, but it does not require any great stretch 
of imagination or historical truth to connect the 
island with the discovery of New York. The 
story may be told best in the words of a little 
history of Manhattan Beach : 

" About two hundred and seventy years ago 
(April, 1609), Hendrick Hudson, having sailed 
from Amsterdam in search of a Western path to 
the East Indies, stood off the shore of Coney 
Island. His little vessel, the Halve Moene, had 
for five months buffeted the storms and been 
driven from Greenland to the Carolinas, when, 
upon the 3d of September, he sighted * three 
great rivers,' one of which was probably the 
Hudson, the other Raritan Bay and the third 
Rockaway Inlet. On the day following, accord- 
ing to his journal, he sent a number of his men 
ashore in a boat, 'who caught ten great mullet 
and a ray, as great as four men could haul into 
the ship.' They found large numbers of plum- 
trees loaded with fruit and surrounded by lux- 
uriant grape-vines. The natives who came to 
meet them were astonished at the size of their 
ship, and vastly interested in their dress, 
language and color. Hudson's intercourse with 
the Indians was amicable in the beginning, they 
came on board his ship and traded tobacco, 
maize and fruit for knives and beads ; but on the 
third day, whilst some of the sailors were ashore, 
the savages — probably not without provocation — 
attacked them. John Coleman was killed by an 
arrow wound in the throat, and two others were 
wounded. Hudson then moved his ship to an 
anchorage in Gravesend Bay, which is bounded 



HISTORY. 41 

on the southwest by the western extremit}-^ of the 
island." 

The island forms a part of the township of 
Gravesend, which was settled in 1635 by a few 
English colonists, including a number of Quakers 
who had been expelled from the neighborhood of 
Boston, among them Lady Deborah Moody, who 
exercised a great influence on the affairs of the 
colony. In i6gg, a ship was built, measuring 
about seventy tons, and during the war of Inde- 
pendence, an English corvette of twenty guns 
was captured off Coney Island. Gravesend Bay 
was also the scene of General Howe's landing, as 
he removed his forces from Staten Island to 
Long Island, previous to the battle on the 
Heights. 

Gen. Howe quartered his troops on the villagers 
and compelled the men to work on the fortifica- 
tions. The corvette referred to anchored late one 
night off Coney Island, whence she was bound to 
Halifax, and a gallant old whaler named Huyler, 
smarting perhaps under the wrongs suffered at 
the hands of the red-coats, conceived the bold 
idea of seizing and destroying her. A few trusty 
friends cooperated with him in the exploit ; they 
muffled their oars and rowed under the stern of 
the ship ; no watch was on deck, and the officers 
could be seen through the cabin windows playing 
a game of cards. A second boat stood some dis 
tance behind the first, and at a signal one crew 
boarded the corvette over the port side and the 
other over the starboard. Both officers and men 
were completely surprised and taken at a disad- 
vantage, were soon overpowered, bound, and 
lowered into the boats. The corvette was then 
set on fire and the captors pulled over to the Jer- 
sey shore with their prisoners. 



42 HISTORY. 

The captain of the corvette is said to have wept 
bitterly, whether from the mellowing effects of 
wine or chagrin is not known, " To be surprised 

and taken by two d d eggshells is too bad," he 

complained. 

He praised the gallantry and enterprise of 
Huyler, however, and told him that there were 
forty thousand dollars on board the ship that was 
illuminating the whole bay with its flames ; but 
the treasure was not secured. 

During the following years Coney Island was 
little more than a desolate sand-heap. The wind 
played havoc with the shifting sandsj and swept 
awa5'' the cedars and the grape-vines, A few 
" clammers " and oystermen inhabited huts along 
the creek, and now and then a sportsman came 
in winter after game. Meantime a city rivalling 
in many respects the capitals of the Old World 
grew up almost within sight of the beach. Not 
many years ago a few hotels and restaurants 
sprang up at the West End, but these attracted 
only the lower and the criminal classes. The 
excursion steamers by which the beach was 
reached, were overcrowded, and the ruffianly 
conduct of their passengers and the indecorous 
scenes on the beach gave the island a bad name. 
A horse-car route from Fulton Ferry, then a 
steam railway from near Greenwood Cemetery 
came into existence, but it was not until 1874 
that the island attracted any attention as a resort 
for respectable people. In June, 1874, Mr. 
Andrew Culver, President, opened the Prospect 
Park and Coney Island Railway. The project had 
been jeered at and its failure predicted by every 
one, but Mr. Culver pushed the work to comple- 
tion almost unaided, and the result justified his 
faith. From that time Coney Island became th§ 



HOTELS. 43 

objective point of thousands of excursionists, and 
the character of the place correspondingly im- 
proved. The "three-card monte" men, gamblers, 
confidence men and thieves were driven away by 
the police, and good order maintained everywhere. 
In 1875, a new hotel was built, and in 1877 the 
Manhattan Beach Hotel and Railway were thrown 
open to the public. At present this magnificent 
stretch of beach, almost at the very doors of the 
metropolis, but neglected for a century, is fulfill- 
ing its mission as the greatest seaside resort in 
the world. 

Hotels. — Every shed on the Coney Island beach 
is dignified by the name of hotel, although not 
more than one half of them have any sleeping- 
rooms attached. In all there are about fifty so- 
called hotels scattered along the shore, between 
Norton's Point and Point Breeze, and these are 
of varying degrees of merit and respectability. 
At the west end there are a host of small re- 
sorts little better than shanties, which have not 
been deemed worthy of mention in this work, 
and these are the gathering places of a class of 
people, of both sexes, whom it is just as well to 
avoid. The most important of the west end re- 
sorts will, however, be found on the accompany- 
ing map, and are referred to briefly under their re- 
spective titles. At West Brighton there are good 
.hotels of the type common to seaside resorts, and 
of varying degrees of excellence, which cater to 
different nationalities and classes — Feltman's and 
Bauer's, for example, being largely frequented by 
Germans, and Cable's being kept, except the res- 
taurant, exclusively for the male sex. At the 
east end, however, there are three hotels which 
exceed in size and in the elegance of their ap- 
pointments any watering-place hotels in the 



44 HOTELS. 

world. The Brighton and Manhattan are largely 
devoted to the comfort of transient visitors, and 
the Oriental to the wants of families who are per- 
manent guests. Gas and running water, superb 
furniture and decorations, unequalled service, 
and a splendid cuisine are afforded by them at 
prices proportioned to these accommodations. 

Almost all of the hotels are kept on the Eu- 
ropean plan, but at some few you may elect to re- 
main on the American or European plan at dis- 
cretion. This latter is the case at the Brighton 
Hotel and at the plainer houses, such as the 
Grand Union and Oceanic at West Brighton. As 
to prices, the range is not proportioned to the 
variations in the character of the accommodation. 
At Cable's Hotel gentlemen may secure rooms, 
without board, at $i per day, but this is the bril- 
liant exception to the rule that at all of the better 
class of houses the lowest price per day for a 
single room is $2 ; and per week, $12. Starting 
from this rate as a minimum rooms may be had 
at the Oriental and the other east end hotels as 
high as $10 or even $15 per day. For full board, 
$3 per day or $15 per week may be stated as the 
lowest rate, and at the Brighton $5 per day is the 
standard rate. At Manhattan Beach both hotels 
are strictly on the European plan. The following 
Is a complete list of the principal hotels, arranged 
alphabetically, and a description of each will be 
found under its appropriate head {^See also Rks- 

'J'AURANTS) : 

Norton & Murray's Pavilion. 
Ocean Concourse Hotel. 
Ocean Hotel. 
Oceanic Hotel. 
Oriental Hotel. 
Point Breeze Pavilion. 
Point Comfort House. 



Brighton Hotel. 
Dieter's Restaurant. 
Grand Central Hotel. 
Grand Union Hotel. 
Half-way House. 
Leach's West End Hotel. 
Manhattan Hotel. 



HOW TO SEE CONEY ISLAND. 45 

Ravenhall. | Smith's (Mrs.) Hotel. 

Rosedale House. i Surf House. 

St. Nicholas Hotel. Ward's Hotel. 

Sea Beach Hotel. West Brighton Beach Hotel. 

Sleight's Pavilion. Windsor Hotel. 

How to See Ooney Island in One Day. — 

The following directions are, with few excep- 
tions, "from Appleton's Dictionary of New York : 
For the stranger who may desire to visit the 
whole island in one day, the following schedule 
will serve as a guide : Leave New York from the 
foot of West 24th Street, West loth Street, Frank- 
lin Street, or Pier No. 2 adjoining the Battery, by 
steamer, passing Governor's Island, the Narrows, 
Forts Wadsworth, Tompkins, and Lafayette, and 
arriving at Norton's dock in an hour. Fare, 
twenty-five cents. Do not purchase a return 
ticket. These boats leave about every hour, and 
it is well in taking this trip to start not later than 
noon. Walk up to Norton's Hotel. Take the 
railroad to West Brighton ; fare, ten cents. See 
the plaza, the new pier, the camera-obscura (ten 
cents), and the great cow, ascend to the top of the 
observatory (fifteen cents), and then lunch at one 
of the neighboring hotels. Take a park wagon 
at Vanderveer's (five cents), and ride over the 
Concourse to Brighton. See the hotel and 
grounds, visit the pavilion and bathing-grounds, 
walk the length of the short pier at Engeman's, 
and then take the Marine Railway (five cents) to 
Manhattan Beach. See the hotel and grounds, 
and then bathe. The chajrge for bath-house and 
dress is twenty-five cents, including the care and 
guarrantee of valuables ; no reduction is made to 
those who take their own dresses. After or before 
the bath visit the amphitheatre overlooking the 
bathing-grounds (no charge to bathers for admis- 



46 IRON PIER. 

sion, ten cents to others). Then visit the Orien- 
tal Hotel, and take the Marine Railway (ten cents) 
to Point Breeze and return. Dine at Manhattan 
Beach or Brighton Beach. Hear the concert in 
the evening, see the effect of the electric light on 
the water, and return to New York at ten o'clock 
via Manhattan Beach road (fare thirty-five cents), 
landing at the foot of East 23d Street. This trip 
involves a considerable outlay of strength. The 
cost for two persons, including a modest dinner 
and lunch, is not more than $6 ; for one person 
it would be about $4. This includes all the 
sights, and may be considerably modified if de- 
sirable. 

Iron Pier — [Map, H4-5] — This remarkable 
structure was erected by the Ocean Navigation 
and Pier Co, in the spring of 1879, ^^^ projects 
into the ocean from a point at the west side of the 
Plaza at West Brighton. The pier is built on 260 
tubular iron piles, 9 inches in diameter, sunk in the 
sand to a depth of from 15 to 20 feet, and well 
braced by a system of horizontal struts and rods. 
It extends into the ocean at right angles with the 
shore for a distance of 1000 feet, and its general 
width is 50 feet, with enlargements to 120 feet at 
the shore end, 83 feet 4 inches at the centre, and 
100 feet at the pier head. The entire structure is 
elevated above all possible reach of storm waves, 
and has two decks, an upper or promenade and a 
Jower or main deck. An ornamental iron roof 
covers the upper deck, and at the widest points 
picturesque-looking buildings have been erected. 
The depth of water at the end of the pier is 18 
feet, and an exterior row of oak fender piles sur- 
rounds the pier head to facilitate the landing of 
steamers. The flooring is of yellow pine, an 
ornamental iron railing surrounds it, and the whole 



IRON PIER, BA THING. 47 

furnishes a splendid promenade, day and night. 
A row of iron aquaria are placed along the 
upper deck, and a band-stand, where promenade 
music is furnished during the afternoon and 
evening by Grafulla's band. A restaurant on 
this deck is capable of feeding 1500 persons at 
one time and cigar and refreshment-stands and 
bar will also be found here. An excellent table 
d'hote dinner with wine is served daily at $1 
per head, (including wine). The price of admis- 
sion to the pier is 10 cents for each person, but 
those going to or from the Island by steamers 
landing at this pier, are furnished with coupons of 
admission on purchasing their tickets. On the lower 
deck are the bathing-houses and the ladies' parlor 
and retiring-iooms. It is lighted at night by 
powerful electric lights. The appearance of the 
pier, gayly decked with bunting, covered with 
people by, day and twinkling with lights at 
night, is very attractive, and it is well worth a 
visit. 

Iron Pier, Bathing. — On the main or lower 
deck of the iron pier are placed 1200 bathing 
houses of excellent quality, with commodious 
offices and parlors attached. These baths have 
the unique advantage of being situated directly 
over the ocean, which is reached by two iron stair 
cases. The one nearest the shore leads down 
into the surf, where a good supply of life lines and 
other safeguards are located ; and the other leads 
down to the smooth water beyond the line of 
breakers, and affords a splendid opportunity for a 
good swim without buffeting the surf. At the 
head of each staircase is a shower of fresh water, 
which bathers can use on emerging from their 
bath. Valuables are taken care of by the check 
system, and this service is included in the charge 



48 LADIES' HAIR-DRESSING SALOONS. 

of twenty-five cents for a bath. There is a ladies' 
hairdressing saloon attached to the bath in charge 
of experienced operators. You may leave your 
own bathing suit here for $i per annum. 

Ladies' Hairdressing Saloons are attached to 
the principal bathing pavilions. 

liand Breezes and Mosquitoes. — Perhaps the 
most unpleasant phase of the weather at the sea- 
shore, says Dr. Packard, is experienced when 
a land breeze prevails for several days ; the heat 
may then be intense, and occasionally continues 
throughout the nights as well as during the day- 
time. Late in the summer, and through the early 
autumn, such a breeze brings hosts of mosquitoes, 
which add greatly to the annoyance due to the 
heat. Any strong odor will keep the mosquitoes 
off; eau de cologne, bay-rum, or spirits of cam- 
phor may be used to bathe the face and hands 
occasionally. To allay the irritation caused by 
their stings — strictly speaking, they do not bite — 
the best remedy is strong spirits of hartshorn or 
ammonia directly applied. 

Leach's West End Hotel [Map F4] is a 
small house west of the Surf House, and is con- 
ducted for the plainer class at cheap rates. 

Levy, Cornet-Soloist, plays at the Manhattan 
Hotel (which see). 

Life-Saving Station. [Map P4J. — A little to 
the east of the new Oriental Hotel is one of the 
life-saving stations of the United States, which is 
unoccupied, however, from May until November. 
During the winter months the beach is patrolled 
nightly by the surf-men attached to the station. 
Each patrolman carries a beach lantern and a red 
Coston hand-light, and on the discovery of a ves- 
sel in distress, he burns the latter, both to alarm 



LUNCH. 49 

his companions and to give notice to those on the 
wreck that succor is near. A life-boat, life-car, 
mortar and shell, rockets and the other life-sav- 
ing paraphernalia are then brought from the sta- 
tion to the spot thus indicated. 

Livery Stable — [Map, I3-4] — will be found in 
a building formerly used as a variety theatre, 
north-east of the plaza at West Brighton. 

Lobsters. — A delicious lunch may be made of 
lobster without fear of indigestion by complying 
with the following rules : Order the waiter at any 
good restaurant to bring you a small lobster, or 
half a large one in the shell, a lemon, a raw &^g, 
and olive oil, red pepper, and a soup-plate. 
Separate the yolk from the white of the tg^, drop 
it into the soup-plate, and stir it with a fork 
(always stir one way), and slowly add olive oil 
until the mixture is of the consistency of dough, 
and will drop from the fork, then add a portion of 
red pepper about the size of half a pea, a pinch of 
salt, and the juice of a small lemon, or a half a 
large one. This will reduce the dressing to the 
consistency of cream. Then pick the meat of the 
lobster from the shell, tearing it with a silver 
fork, but on no account cutting or touching it 
with a knife, add some few leaves of fresh crisp 
lettuce torn in pieces with the fingers, and pour 
the dressing over it. Eat with dry French bread. 
This will be found the perfection of aesthetic 
eating. 

Lost and Found. — Lost children or lost articles 
of value should at once be reported to the police 
office in the Aquarium. {See Poltce.) 

Low Tide. — See High Water. 

Lunch. ^6>^ Dinners. 



50 LUNCH TABLES. 

Lunch Tables.— ^^^ Picnics. 

Manhattan Beach is the name given to all 
that portion of the Island lying east of Brighton 
Beach, and extending to Point Breeze, the east- 
ern extremity of the Island. It has an uninter- 
rupted sea front of over 2^ miles, and embraces 
some 500 acres. It is the property of the Man- 
hattan Beach Improvement Company, which owns 
in fee simple the entire tract. The buildings 
erected by the company up to the present time 
(1880), comprise the Manhattan Hotel, opened in 
1877, and the railroad depot adjoining it in the 
rear, also necessary out-buildings ; the Oriental 
Hotel, erected 1880 ; the Manhattan Beach Bath- 
ing Pavilion and Amphitheatre, a grand pavil- 
ion, and a small house at Point Breeze. De- 
pots of the Marine Railway, a drug store, and the 
music-stand complete the list. Next year a 
superb specimen of Queen Anne architecture will 
be erected west of the Manhattan Hotel by^ the 
Coney Island Jockey Club. 

Manhattan Beach Bathing Pavilion [Map N4] 
is east of the Manhattan Hotel, and including the 
Amphitheatre is 520 feet long by 170 feet deep. 
The building is an ornamental but substantial 
frame structure, two stories high, and the interior 
is finished in natural woods. The entrances to 
the bathing-houses are in the rear, and the sexes 
separate on the beach, the ladies' door being at 
the right and the gentlemen's at the left. The 
bather purchases a ticket, as a primary step, for 
25 cents, which entitles him to the use of a bath- 
ing-suit, a bathing-house and the care of his valu- 
ables without restriction as to time. The parlors 
and offices are handsomely furnished, and it is 
well to leave your valuables at the desk. These 
you place in an envelope which is hancjefi ypu, 



MANHA TTA N BE A CH PA VILION. 5 1 

seal up and write your name across the flap. An 
attendant then gives you a numbered check strung 
3n a rubber cord, which you hang about your 
leck while in the water. The presentation of this 
:heck and the signing of your name in a register 
fvill secure the return of your valuables, after the 
signature on the envelope has been compared with 
:hat on the register and found to correspond. This 
s a perfect check, and losses are unknown. There 
ire about 2200 bathing-houses in all, Soo of which 
ire for ladies. The men's rooms are 4 feet x 4 feet, 
md contain a fixed seat, a foot-tub, a mirror, shelf- 
looks, two towels, and running fresh water. The 
adies' rooms are 4 feet 6 inches x 6 feet in length, 
)ut in all other respects are like those described. 
Fhe entire stretch of beach in front of the bath- 
louse is reserved for bathers, is carefully fenced 
n, and a space of 50 feet is set apart for ladies ex- 
:lusively. There are a plentiful supply of life- 
ines, floats beyond the line of breakers afford 
)laces for experienced swimmers to dive from, 
md a life-boat manned by experienced seamen is 
:ept constantly in the water, and another is ready 
ipon the beach for use in case of accident. 

Two policemen are always on duty at this point, 
md accidents or disturbances are unknown. The 
leach is kept scrupulously clean, and at night is 
lluminated by a powerful electric light. Should 
'ou prefer you may take your own bathing-suit to 
he place, and on payment of %\ hire a box for the 
eason in which to keep it. It will only be de- 
ivered to you on presentation of your box ticket, 
nd it is carefully washed and dried each time it 
3 used, without extra charge, and returned to your 
ddress by express at the close of the season, or 
tored during the winter, without charge, as you 
nay elect. This is by far the best plan. The 



52 MANHATTAN HOTEL- 

bathing-suits furnished, however, are of good 
quality, of flannel if you prefer it, and washed and 
dried by steam each time they are used. Over the 
parlors are 150 private bath-rooms, where hot and 
cold and shower baths may be had by those who 
do not care for surf bathing. The charge for these 
baths is 50 cents. i^See also Amphitheatre.) 

Manhattan Beach Railroad. — See New York 
AND Manhattan Beach Railroad. 

Manhattan Hotel [Map N4] is, with one ex- 
ception, the largest of its kind in the world. It 
was first opened to the public in 1877. Standing 
within 400 feet of the ocean at high tide, it has a 
frontage of 660 feet, is alternatel)' three and four 
stories in height, and is a picturesque-looking build- 
ing, having a marvellously light and airy appear- 
ance for so huge a structure. A wide-covered balco- 
ny surrounds it on three sides, and the depot of the 
New York and Manhattan Beach Railway Com- 
pany is directly in the rear. A wide plaza in 
front, laid out with grass-plots, flower-beds and 
shrubbery extends nearly to the water's edge, and 
the broad plank walks by which it is intersected 
converge at the music stand directly in front of 
the hotel. At this stand Gilmore's Twenty-second 
Regiment Band give concerts daily at 3.30 p.m. 
and at 7 p.m., and another band plays during the 
day in the Amphitheatre of the Bathing Pavilion. 

The hotel contains 360 sleeping-rooms, all of 
which are light and airy, finished in natural wood, 
handsomely carpeted and furnished with East- 
lake furniture. These rooms are rented at from 
$2 to $4 per day, and for suites of rooms propor- 
tionately higher rates are charged. Persons de- 
siring to engage rooms for a whole or a part oi 
the season can obtain a slight discount irom these 



MANHATTAN PA riLION. 53 

rates. Permanent guests are provided with par- 
lors, dining-rooms, etc., on the second floor, to 
which transient guests are not admitted, " tran- 
sient guests" being used here to designate excur- 
sionists who do not remain over night. The first 
floor is, however, free to all well-behaved;persons, 
and the use of the rooms does not imply any obli- 
gation either to eat, drink, or in any way patron- 
ize the house. Meals are served in a grand din- 
ing-room in the west wing of the hotel, which is 
capable ol seating over a thousand persons, and 
there are two other public and several small dining, 
rooms, in addition to the piazzas, where meals for 
four thousand persons can be served at one time, 
and 30,000 persons led in one day. The cuisine is 
unexceptionable {see Restaurants), and the prices 
are in proportion. Bar-rooms will be found in 
the east wing, but there are no billiard-tables or 
bowling-alleys in the hotel. The Union Club, Union 
League Club, University Club of New York, and 
the Coney Island Jockey Club all have seaside 
branches of their clubs located in private suites of 
apartments (used as dining, smoking, and readmg 
rooms) in the Manhattan Hotel. There is gas in 
every room, and a good supply of hot and cold 
water and comfortable retiring-rooms for both 
sexes in every part of the hotel. Further informa- 
tion will be found under Restaurants, Music, 
and Bathing. 

Manhattan Pavilion [Map, N4] stands to 
the east of the Manhattan Hotel, and is designed 
especially for the use of excursionists, and par- 
ticularly for picnic parties. It is an enormous 
structure, fitted with an abundance of tables and 
chairs and waiters, for the free use of the public. 
There is a bar, cigar and lunch counters in the 
main hallway, and a restaurant supplies chowder, 



54 MARINE RAIL IV A VS. 

fish, and clams, and beer or wine to those who 
desire to supplement with any of these things 
the lunches with which they have provided them- 
selves. {See Pic-Nics.) 

Marine Railways. — There are two so-called 
marine railways on Coney Island, which together 
extend the whole length of the Island, with the ex- 
ception of a break of half a mile between the plaza 
at West Brighton and Brighton Beach. The road 
at the west end is a branch of the Prospect Park 
and Coney Island Railway, and starts from a 
point near Norton's dock at the west end, and runs 
along parallel with the shore, but in the rear of the 
hotels, to the P. P. & C. I. R. R. Depot at West 
Brighton. There is a station at a point midway 
between the termini at Rosedale. The road at the 
west end is a branch of the New York and Man- 
hattan Beach Railway, and starts from a station 
near the east end of the Brighton Beach Bathing 
Pavilion and runs to Manhattan Beach. From 
the rear of the Manhattan and Oriental Hotels, it 
continues on to Point Breeze. Near the Manhat- 
tan Hotel a branch of this road is to be built 
northward across Sheepshead Bay on piles to the 
race-course of the Coney Island Jockey Club. 
The fare on either road is 5 cents for the whole 
trip or between any two points. 

Mechanical Cow. — See Plaza. 

Midgets' Palace [Map L4] is in the Brighton 
Beach Bathing Pavilion, and is a large hall capa- 
ble of holding about 700 persons. The curious 
little people called the " Midgets" are on exhibi- 
tion here from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., supplemented 
by the Lilliputian Opera Company. The admis- 
sion is fixed at 10 cents. 



MUSIC. 55 

Milk. — Sec description of Mechanical Cow, 
under heading Plaza. 

Moonlight-nights. — See Calkndar, in Appen- 
dix. 

Mosquitoes. — {See Land Bkee/.es.) 

Music. — One of the greatest attractions at 
Coney Island is found in the music furnished, 
much of whicli is of a high order of merit, al- 
though, like almost everything else on the island, 
you may have the ?je^t or the worst. All of the 
best orchestras and military bands of New York 
are engaged by the principal hotels, and every 
afternoon and evening excellent programmes of 
popular music are rendered for the gratuitous de- 
lectation of the visitors. At Manliattan Beach 
the music is furnished by the Twenty-second 
Regiment f:Jand, under the leadership of P. S, 
Gilmore, and the soloists are Jules Levy, the un- 
rivalled cornet-soloist, and Signor Raffayello, 
who performs on a novel and complex instru- 
ment, called the euphonium-trombone. A good 
band also plays in the ArnphitheRtre adjoining 
the bathing-pavilion. At Brighton Beach Ad. 
Neuendorf and his fine orchestra furnish the mu- 
sic, and at Cable's Downing's Ninth Regiment 
Band and Arbuckle, the cornet-soloist, may be 
heard daily. Carlberg's Orchestra furnish the 
visitors at the Sea Beach Hotel with music. Graf- 
fula's famous Seventh Regiment Band are sta- 
tioned on the Iron Pier, Contcrno's Twenty-third 
Regiment band at Bauer's Hotel, and the Sixth 
Regiment Band at Feltman's. From strolling mu- 
sicians and musical organizations of all kinds are 
drawn the forces of the minor hotels, but at al- 
most every place, from land's end to land's end, 
may bg heard the twanging of harps and the 



56 ^'ArsEA. 

squeaking of fiddles, while at intervals the steam- 
orchestrion at the Aquarium drowns every sound 
for half a mile around. 

Nausea. — See Hints on Bathing, in Appendix. 

Neuendorfs Orchestra. — See Brighton Ho- 
tel. 

New York and Manhattan Beach Railroad 
runs from Greenpoint and from Bay Ridge to the 
Manhattan Hotel over a narrow gauge steel rail 
double track. Between Bay Ridge and the Beach 
it runs through cool, charming Avoodlands for a 
good portion of the distance. Connections with 
New York are made by steamers from points on 
the North River running to Bay Ridge and by 
boats from the foot of East 23d Street to Green- 
point. The Woodruff Palace Cars are run on 
this road and are models of luxur)'^ and conveni 
ence, affording the shelter needed by fastidious 
persons, invalids and others from dust and 
drauo^hts. The extra fare is 25 cents. 

"^^ See Time- Table in Appendix. 

Ne"wr York and Sea Beach Railroad runs 
from Third Avenue and 65th Street, Brooklyn 
(Bay Ridge) to the depot at West Brighton Beach. 
The Bay Ridge depot is accessible b)- horse-cars 
from Fulton Ferry via Court Street, and from 
Hamilton Ferry via Fort Hamilton horse-cars. 
"From New York it is reached bv steamers to Bay 
Ridge. 

g;^='6'tv Toie-Table in Appendix. 

Norton and Murray's Pavilion — [Map, A-B3] 
— is located about a quarter of a mile south-east 
of the steamboat dock at Norton's Point, and is 
reached by a wide plank walk. The pavilion 
comprises three buildings, all of them old and 
somewhat rude structures. The largest building 



iVoj:to.v's point. 57 

contains some 700 bath houses of the old-fashioned 
type, simply rude unfurnished cabins. The centre 
building is the pavilion proper, and contains a bar 
and restaurant. The third building to the west- 
ward is a small shanty bearing the sign " Coney 
Island Stock Exchange," and there is an plBce of 
the Western Union Telegraph Company in it, 
and tables for the use of picnic parties who bring 
their lunch with them. During the season this 
place is largely patronized, chiefly, however, by 
the middle and lower classes, and undoubtedly it 
furnishes them with amusement and recreation 
quite to their taste. 

Norton's Dock — [Map, Ai] — is a rough w^ooden 
pier, about 150 feet long, at the extreme west end 
of the Island, and has been the landing place of 
the Coney Island boats for many years. It is 
at the mouth of Gravesend Bay, and is shel- 
tered from the extreme force of the wind and 
waves, and landings are readily made in any but 
extraordinarily heavy weather. Norton &: Mur- 
ray's Hotel (Pavilion) is near the shore end of the 
pier and the depot of the Brooklyn, Bath and 
Coney Island Railway, by which West Brighton 
Beach can be reached in a few minutes. 

Norton's Point [Map, Ai]— is the extreme 
western end of the Island, and takes its name 
from ex-Senator Mike Norton, proprietor of a 
hotel at that place. It has Gravesend Bay on 
the north and the Atlantic Ocean on the south. 
The old steamboat dock is at this point, and a 
depot of the Prospect Park and Coney Island 
Railway, by which it is connected with West 
Brighton. The sand on the beach roundabout 
is heaped up by the wind in a series of irregu- 
lar and ever shifting hillocks or sand-dunes ; 



5^ OBSERVATORY. 

beach grass grows in ragged tufts here and 
there , the beach is partially covered with sea- 
weed, and its general aspect desolate and un- 
inviting. It was however, one of the first places 
of resort on the Island, and five or six years 
ago attracted many visitors from among the 
lower classes, and was made notorious by the 
gamblers and blacklegs who infested the beach. 
This has all been changed, and the beach at this 
point, if not attractive, is quiet and orderly. 

Observatory (The). — [Map, H4] — A tower 
whose skeleton frame stretches up 300 feet into 
the air, occupies a prominent place near the centre 
of the plaza at West Brighton, and is called the 
Observatory. The top is reached by the same large 
elevators which were in use at the Philadelphia 
Exposition in 1876. A superb view of the harbor 
and bay of New York and their islands, the Jersey 
coast and Sandy Hook, portions of Long Island, 
the Hudson River, and the adjacent cities, is 
afforded those who make the ascent. The charge 
is fifteen cents for adults and ten cents for children. 

Ocean Concourse Hotel — [Map, I4] — is at the 
north-east corner of the plaza at West Brighton, 
and is a favorite resort for persons driving down 
from Brooklyn. It is one of the oldest and best 
known places on the Island, and has spacious 
sheds for the temporary accommodation of vehi- 
cles. The hotel contains 50 rooms, rented at $2 
per day and $10 to $15 a week each. The dining- 
rooms and piazza will accommodate about 200 
persons at table at one time ; the service is good, 
and the food well cooked {see Restaurants). 
There is a billiard room and bar room in the 
house. The baths are in a small building in front, 
which also contains a bar and restaurant {see 



OCEAN VIEW HOTEL. 59 

i Bathing). The house is frequently called Van- 
;derveer's, that being the name of the proprietor. 

Ocean Hotel [Map, K4] — is a few rods west 

i of the Brighton Beach Hotel, near the Con- 

; course, 'and is a medium size frame building, 

/ two stories in height, surrounded by a spacious 

, veranda. It contains about 20 sleeping apart- 

' ments, which are rented at $12 per week or $2 

! per day, without board. The restaurant is neat 

and attractive looking, and the food of excellent 

j quality {see Restaurants). It is kept by Wm. 

I A. Engeman, who also owns a wooden pier {see 

Engeman's Pier), which is almost directly in 

front of the hotel. 

Ocean Parkway. — A. broad and straight road- 
way or boulevard, 5)^ miles in length, leading in 
a direct course from Prospect Park to Coney 
Island, striking the beach midway on the Ocean 
Concourse, about half a mile west of Brighton 
Hotel. The main roadway is 200 feet wide, 
macadamized and bordered with shade-trees. A 
sidewalk, partially flagged, is at either side of the 
main roadway, and beyond these walks are extra 
roadways, each twenty-five feet wide. Taken in 
connection with the drive through Prospect Park 
and along the Ocean Concourse this combined 
drive oiZyi miles is almost unrivalled for attract- 
iveness and pleasure. 

Ocean View Hotel [Map H3], faces the Plaza 
at West Brighton Beach and adjoins the depot of 
the Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad. 
It is kept by Thomas E. Cable and is commonly 
called "Cable's." It is a plain two-story build- 
ing, with a wide piazza around the two stories, 
and meals are served on these and in the front 
dining-room below. The upper balcony is a 



6o OCEANIC HOTEL. 

pleasant place to eat, and the panorama to be 
seen is very picturesque. A billiard and bar- 
room will be found on the first floor in the rear. 
There are about sixty sleeping-rooms in the 
house, which are rented at $i per day each, to 
gentlemen only. This is an inflexible rule. The 
restaurant is one of the best on this part of the 
Island. 

Oceanic Hotel [Map I2] is situated some 
distance back from the beach, and is quiet and 
secluded. The house contains about 100 rooms, 
and is plainly furnished. The board rates are 
from $2 to $3 per da)^ and families are accommo- 
dated for the season at moderate rates. 

O'Connor's Express. — See Express. 

Oriental Hotel [Map, O4] was erected dur- 
ing the present season (1880) by the Manhattan 
Beach Improvement Company, to suppl)?^ the de- 
mand for a hotel of the first-class, suitable for 
families, and free from the noise and excitement 
incident to the hotels patronized by thousands of 
excursionists daily. The building, which stands 
igoo feet east of the Manhattan Hotel, is 550 feet 
long, and varies in height from three to six 
-stories. It is built in the Eastern style of archi- 
tecture, with round towers and lofty minarets, 
and presents a remarkably picturesque appear- 
ance. It is intended for people who desire the 
best accommodations, and who can afford to pay 
handsomely therefor, and, as far as possible, it is 
intended to exclude excursionists from the house. 
There are in all about four hundred sleepinf^. 
rooms in the hotel, which are more elegantly fur- 
nished and decorated than those at any other 
hotel on the island, and are equal in every respect 
to those of the best hotels in the United States. 



OYSTERS. 6 1 

These are rented at from $3 per day to $10 per day, 
according to size and location. The restaurant is 
furnished with the most elegant fixtures and ser- 
vice, and the prices are proportionately higher 
than at 'any other hotel. There is no table d'hdte 
at the hotel, and only very slight reductions on 
the prices of rooms are made even to those who 
desire to pass the entire season at this house. 
There is an elevator, gas and running water in 
every room, and all the luxuries of a first-class 
city hotel. The house is managed by Messrs. 
Mackinnie & Co., the proprietors of the Man- 
hattan Hotel. 

Oysters are generally supposed from their 
freshness to be eaten with impunity at the sea- 
shore when they are not wholesome at inland 
places. The rule is well known and pretty 
generally observed in most cities to abstain from 
them during the months in the names of which 
the letter R does not occur ; so that from the 
beginning of May to the end of August, or the 
beginning of September, they are not in any great 
demand, and fortunately at this time clams, crabs 
and lobsters are at their best. Although, at the 
seaside, oysters are palatable during the summer 
season, and are often eaten without apparent 
harm, there can be no doubt that they sometimes 
prove treacherous. One is apt occasionally to 
come across a bSd oyster — it may be merely 
a milky one, or it may be one which is 
actually spoiled, and the effect of this is to induce 
a most unpleasant disturbance of the digestive 
organs. At the best hotels at Coney Island great 
care is taken in the selection of oysters, but all 
things considered, they are best left alone at this 
time of year. 



62 PEDLERS. 

Pedlers. — Comparatively few itinerant vend- 
ors are now met with on the beach, east of West 
Brighton. There are a few permitted at Brighton, 
but they are rigorously excluded from Manhattan 
Beach. The only class of these vendors who are 
useful are the men who sell " goggles " or smoked 
and colored eyeglasses and spectacles. Persons 
with weak eyes Avill do well either to provide them- 
selves beforehand or to purchase from one of these 
men a pair of colored glasses, as the glare of the 
sun on the ocean and on the sand at midday is 
trying to the strongest visual organs. Peanut and 
popcorn vendors are frequently met with, and en- 
gage the attention and reap the pennies of children. 
Scales, where you may try your weight for five 
cents, will also be met with at points along the 
shore. 

Photographs. — If you should for any reason, 
personal or otherwise, desire to have your pic- 
ture taken at Coney Island there is a small pavil- 
ion devoted to the art near Leach's West End 
Hotel, and at the Brighton Beach Bathing Pavil- 
ion. There are generally itinerant photographers 
also to be met with on the beach. The quality 
of the pictures taken, of course, rarely surpasses 
the original, but you don't pay for flattery, but 
" for the fun of the thing." 

Picnics. — Coney Island is essentially a demo- 
cratic place, where you may do pretty much as 
you like, and be reasonably sure of not attract- 
ing any unpleasant amount of notice. You may, 
if )^ou please, go to Coney Island and spend the 
day, and enjoy yourself hugely, without expend- 
ing one cent more than is required to pay your 
fares to and from the beach. Not only is this 
possible, but thousands of people, notably moth- 



Plaza. 65 

Brs with small means and large families, actually 
do it every day during the season. At almost 
every hotel of any size on the beach there are 
tables set apart for the use of parties who bring 
their own provisions or lunch baskets, and you 
may spread your feast and enjoy it at your pleas- 
ure. If you desire you can order beer, clams, 
ichowder, or the like to supplement your feast, 
I but there is no obligation to do so implied by 
your use of the tables or pavilions, and you will 
experience neither rudeness nor neglect. There 
are tables for picnic parties at the Manhattan 
Pavilion, at the Brighton Beach Bathing Pavilion, 
at Bauer's at West Brighton, and at a host of 
smaller places there and along the beach to the 
West End, where ample accommodations of the 
kind will be found in the western part of Norton 
& Murray's Pavilion. The places so set apart 
are always designated by large signs, so that 
you need never fear a rebuff. 

Piers. — There are four piers at Coney Island, 
only one of which — the New Iron Pier — however, 
possesses any interest for the visitor. They are 
called Norton's Dock, the West End Pier, Enge- 
man's Pier, and the New Iron Pier {see under re- 
spective headings). 

Planets. — See article on Summer Stars, in Ap* 
pendix. 

Plaza. — The Spanish designation of an open 
square (frequently used but not yet incorporated 
in the English language by lexicographers), is 
the name given to the space at West Brighton 
Beach surrounded by hotels and other build- 
ings. It is laid out in grass plots and flower beds, 
and intersected by many broad plank walks. 
Fountains of drinking water, a great mechanical 



64 POINT BREEZE. 

Cow, the Observatory, Camera Obscura, and other 
small structures are scattered about the place. 

The mechanical Cow is an enormous bovine 
which, manipulated by busy dairy maids, dispenses 
unlimited quantities of ice-cold milk to thirsty vis- 
itors at five cents per glass. 

Point Breeze — [Map T4]— is at the eastern ex 
extremity of Coney Island, is the property of the 
Manhattan Beach Improvement Company, and has 
Sheepshead Bay on the north and the ocean on 
the south. It is the eastern terminus of the Marine 
Railway, and is resorted to by lovers of clam bakes, 
fish dinners, and rowing and sailing. The view of ' 
the ocean, Rockaway Beach, and other points is 
particularly fine from this place. 

Point Breeze Pavilion — [Map, T4] — is at the 
eastern terminus of the Marine Railway, and is 
devoted to fish dinners and clam bakes. There 
are about fifty rooms in the house rented at $1.50 
and $2 per day, chiefly to gentlemen sportsmen. 
At five o'clock every day a Rhode Island clam 
bake {see Clam bakes) is served at seventy-five cents 
per head. Capital fish-dinners may also be 
ordered here, and row boats and sail boats hired, 
the former at twenty-five cents and the latter at 
$1 per hour, or if wanted for a longer time prices 
by special arrangement. The fishing grounds are 
near here. fySee Fishing.) 

Point Comfort House — [Map, C4] — between 
Norton & Murray's and Rosedale, at the west 
end. It is a small two-story frame building, and 
has a few bath houses, attached which are labelled 
"West End Baths." It is one of the many hotels 
of the cheaper grade at this end of the Island. 

Police. — The police force employed on the 
Island is large enough to preserve perfect order at 



I? A VENHALL. 65 

all times, and their headquarters are in the Aqua- 
rium building at West Brighton. The policemen 
are mainly paid by the hotel-keepers, but they are 
all sworn in as officers by the authorities of 
Gravesend. Well-known and capable hotel de- 
tectives are also employed by the larger hotels. 

Post Office. — There are letter and drop letter 
boxes at Brighton and Manhattan Beach Hotels. 
Collections are made several times daily. 

Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad runs 
from the depot at Ninth Avenue and Twentieth 
Street, Brooklyn, to Cable's Hotel, at West 
Brighton Beach. The depot is accessible from 
Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn, via Vanderbilt Avenue 
horse-cars. This is frequently called Culver's 
road. 2^" See Time-Table hi Appendix. 

Punch and Judy. — See Aquarium. 

Race-Courses. — See Coney Island Jockey 
Club and Engeman's Race-Course. 

Railroads. — Coney Island is approached by 
six railroads from New York and Brookl)m or 
connecting with boats for those places at interme- 
diate points. The names of these are as follows: 

Brooklyn, Bath and Coney Island Railroad. 

Brooklyn and Coney Island Horse Railroad. 

Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island Rail- 
road. 

New York and Manhattan Beach Railroad.- 

New York and Sea Beach Railroad. 

Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad. 

A description of each of these roads will be 
found under separate heads. 

Ravenhall— [Map, F4] — is a small neat hostelry 
about half of a mile east of the West End Pier. It 
contains about a dozen rooms, and bar and res- 



66 REST A URANTS. 

taurant. It is resorted to by many men who con- 
sider its clam roasts superior to those served at 
any other place on the Island, albeit the service is 
a trifle rough. 

Restaurants. — Every building on the island, with 
few exceptions, contains a restaurant, and there- 
fore the choice of a place at which to lunch or 
dine is one of the greatest perplexities encoun- 
tered by the stranger or the habitue. The remarks 
under Hotels apply equally to restaurants. There 
is by no means as great a difference in the prices 
between the higher and lower classes of restau- 
rants as there is in the character of the service 
and cooking. At the Manhattan, Brighton, and 
Oriental Hotels, the service and the cooking is on 
a par with that of the best restaurants in New York, 
while at the cheaper houses the service is apt to be 
rough and the cooking indifferent, while the prices 
are really only a trifle lower than at the better 
class of restaurants. A nearly uniform tariff has 
been adopted by common consent for clams 
cooked in various ways, at the best hotels as well 
as at the open sheds along the beach, but other 
viands differ greatly in price, and apparently 
without any reason or consistency in the grada- 
tion. A careful comparison of the prices on the 
bills of fare, at eight of the representative hotels 
of their classes on the island, viz. : the Manhat- 
tan, Brighton, Bauer's, Engeman's, Vanderveer's, 
Cable's, Sea Beach, and Iron Pier, gives the fol- 
lowing results : Soups are from 20 cents to 25 cents 
a portion at the cheapest, and from 25 cents to 40 
cents at the dearest, an ordinary soup costing 
about the same at either place. Fish ranges from 
35 cents to 50 cents a portion at the cheapest, 
and from 40 cents to 60 cents at the most expen- 
sive, the average price being about the same. 



SAILING. 67 

Among roast meats, taking beef as a staple, a por- 
tion costs 40 cents at the cheapest, and 50 cents 
at the dearest, so that as the prices of all the 
other viands range at about the same comparative 
rates, it will be seen that in point of price there 
is but little to choose, and especially is this the 
case if you exercise care in ordering your dinner. 
Remember that at all first-class restaurants, where 
you order more than one course, one portion is 
ample for two persons. Clams are sold at 20 or 
25 cents for raw clams, 40 cents for roast clams, 
and 25 cents for chowder at all the restaurants on 
the beach. See also Dinners ; Fees ; Fish Din- 
ners. 

Rhode Island Clambake. — See Clambakes, 

Rooms. — See Hotels. 

Rosedale — [Map, C-D4]— is a small two-story 
frame house, which is a resort of the plainer class, 
and stands about 300 yards west of the West End 
Pier. It has a small pavilion for picnic parties 
attached. 

Rowing. — Row-boats may be hired at the Pavil- 
ion at Point Breeze (which see), accessible vid 
Marine Railway, fare five cents. The usual price 
is from twenty-five cents to fifty cents an hour, 
depending upon the size of the boat, and whether 
an attendant is required or not. Special rates may 
be made if you desire to keep the boat many 
hours. This is the only place on the Island where 
boating is possible. {See also Sailing.) 

Sailing.— Good sail-boats may be hired with a 
competent crew for $1 per hour, or at a less rate 
if you keep the boat many hours, at Point Breeze 
(which see), accessible vid Marine Railway fare 
five cents. This is the only place on the Island 
where boating is possible. {See also Rowing.) 



68 ST. NICHOLAS HOTEL. 

St. Nicholas Hotel — [Map, H4] — is a small 
house near the landing of the iron pier at West 
Brighton. It has a bar, restaurant, and shooting 
gallery, is nicely furnished, and is noticeably neat. 

Sanitarium. — The Seaside Home for poor 
children stands in the rear of the Aquarium. It 
is a worthy charity, instituted for the purpose of 
giving the weak and sickly children of the tene- 
ment-house districts a week on the seashore. 

Sea Beach Hotel [Map H3] is at the ter- 
minus of the New York and Sea Beach Rail- 
road at West Brighton. It is not properly a 
hotel, but a depot and restaurant, and is one of 
the most attractive looking places on the beach. 
The building was the United States Government 
building at the Exposition at Philadelphia in 
1876, and is high and roomy as well as graceful 
in its outlines. The interior is partially sur- 
rounded by a balcony, from which Carlberg's 
orchestra give concerts every afternoon and 
evening. The east end of the hall is used as a 
restaurant a la carte, and at the west end there 
is a table-d' hdte dinner served daily, at $1 per 
head, without wine. The trains on the railroad 
land their passengers in the rear of the hotel, and 
the beach in front is laid out attractively in flower- 
beds and grass-plots. In a frame building on the 
east of the hotel will be found billiard-tables, 
bowling-alleys, and a shooting-gallery. A broad 
plank walk leads to the shore end of the Iron 
Pier, almost directly in front of the building. 

Sea Beach Railroad.— 6"^^ New York and Sea 
Beach Railroad. 

Seaside Costumes. — See Bathing Suits ; 
Clothing ; also Surf Styles, in Appendix. 

Seaside Home (for Children). — See Sanitarium. 



SCrj^F HOUSE. 69 

Shooting Galleries, for practice with air- 
guns, are located at various points along the beach 
west of the Brighton. The range is ordinarily 
only about twenty five or thirty feet long, and the 
tariff for three shots five or ten cents. 

Sleight's [Map H4] is a pavilion and restau- 
rant, at popular prices, just east of the landing of 
the Iron Pier at West Brighton. 

Smith's (Mrs.) — [Map, E4] — is a cottage adjoin- 
ing the Windsor on the east. It contains 10 or 15 
rooms, rented at from $5 to $7 each per week, 
without board. 

Soda- Water — at the drug-stores (which see). 

Spectacles. — See Peddlers. 

Star Gazing. — See article on Summer Stars, in 
Appendix. 

Steam-Orchestrion, — See Aquarium. 

Steamboats. — A number of different steamers 
from piers on the East and North Rivers run to the 
Coney Island Pier direct, to Norton's Point direct, 
and to Locust Grove and Bay Ridge, connecting 
with railroads at those points for the Beach. To 
the stranger, the trip via the Bay Ridge branch 
of the New York and Manhattan Beach Road 
ofi'ers great attractions, as it enables him both to 
see the Bay of New York, and to ride over the 
most attractive part of the railroad. 

2^" For Time- Tables of all the Steamers, see Ap- 
pendix. 

Sunday Services are held on Sunday mornings 
at II o'clock in the parlors of the Manhattan Beach 
Hotel, with music under the direction of Gilmore. 

Surf Fashions.— 5^^ Surf Styles, in Appendix. 

Surf House~[Map, G4]— Tilyou's, is a short 



70 SWIMMING. 

distance west of the Iron Pier. The house is neat 
and clean, and is, as in former years, the best 
family bathing place on the Island. It is still a 
quiet, comfortable place, though lacking somewhat 
in the conveniences now obtainable elsewhere. 
A more than ordinarily good chowder is served 
here at 25 cents, and is given gratis to all who 
bathe here and pay 25 cents. The price of baths 
without the chowder is 20 cents. 

Swimming. — See article on Swimming, in Ap- 
pendix. 

Table-d'h8te Dinners. — At the Brighton Beach 
Hotel a dinner in five courses, and including 
a pint of table claret, is served daily at $1.50 
per head, and is extremely well cooked and 
served. At the Sea Beach Hotel a table-d'^ h6te 
dinner is served without wine at $1 per head, 
and on the Iron Pier an excellent dinner in five 
courses, including a pint of table claret, is served 
at $1 per head. By purchasing dinner tickets at 
the shore end of the pier, the price of admission 
to the pier (ten cents), is included in this sum. 

For persons unaccustomed to ordering their 
meals from a bill of fare, this is not only the best, 
but the cheapest way to dine. 

Telegraph Offices. — These will be found in the 
Manhattan, Brighton, Oriental, Cable's, and Nor- 
ton & Murray's hotels. Rate for ten words to 
New York, twenty-five cents. 

Temperature. — The temperature of Coney 
Island, as compared with that of New York City, 
is of course affected at times by local conditions, 
direction of winds, etc., but it is safe to say that it 
will average throughout the season ten degrees 
lower than the temperature prevailing in New 
York. 



TRIP TO CONEY ISLAND. 71 

Tide. — See High Water. 

Theatre. — See Feltman's. 

Tilyou's. — See Surf House. 

Tom Thumb. — See Aquarium. 

Trip (The) to Coney Island by Steamer 
affords tl;e tourist a better idea of the Harbor of 
New York than he can obtain in any other way. 
Starting from the pier at the foot of 24th Street, 
on the North or Hudson River, on the right is 
Hobokenand the Stevens Castle surmounting the 
bluff. Then Jersey City on the right, and New 
York on the left are passed, and the steamer 
swings round the Battery and Castle Garden. Gov- 
ernor's Island, the headquarters of the Military 
Department of the East, with its defences. Fort 
Columbus and Castle William, comes in view on 
the right as the steamer passes through Butter- 
milk Channel, which separates it from the 
Brooklyn shore, which is then on the left, and 
affords a good view of the Atlantic Docks, which 
have a pier line 3000 feet long, and a basin cover- 
ing forty acres, surrounded by splendid brick and 
granite warehouses. Staten Island then comes 
up on the right and the Quarantine Station, and 
on the left, the Bay Ridge Dock, where there is 
a depot of the N. Y. and Manhattan Beach Rail- 
way. Thence down through the Narrows with 
the gray walls of Fort Hamilton on the left side, 
and Fort Wadsworth (formerly Fort Richmond) 
on the right, and above the latter the green walls 
of the earthworks called Fort Tompkins. In 
under the empty port-holes of the ruins of Fort 
Lafayette, and you pass out into the lower bay. 
Over to the right lies the low line of Sandy Hook, 
and nearer the Illinois, a dismantled hulk, and 
the yellow fever and small-pox floating hospitals, 



72 UNDERTOW, 

and Ellis and Bedloe's Islands. Then Coney 
Island conies in view on the left, gay with bunt- 
ing, a city of airy castles and a capitalof pleasure, 
with a new population every day. 

Undertow. — See article on Swimming, in Appen- 
dix. 

Valuables, Care of, — See Bathing localities re- 
ferred to under Bathing. 

Vanderveer's Hotel. — See Ocean Concourse 
Hotel. 

Van Sicklen's [Map, Ii] is a station on the 
Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad at 
Coney Island Creek. It is mainly a resort for 
the disciples of Izaak Walton. {See Fishing.) 

Waiters' Fees. — See Fees. 

Ward's — [Map, H4] — is a small hostelry just 
west of Feltman's at West Brighton. It is clean, 
neat, and cheap. 

West Brighton is the name of that portion of 
Coney Island east of the West End and west of 
Brighton Beach. It was formerly known as Cul- 
ver's Beach. It is a popular place, and has a 
broad plaza in the centre, thickly surrounded by 
hotels of various grades, and is the landing-place 
of the Iron Pier. 

West Brighton Beach Hotel— [Map, H4] 
is just east of the landing of the Iron Pier and 
fronts on the plaza. It is kept by Paul Bauer, and 
is frequently called Bauer's Hotel. The building 
contains some seventy sleeping rooms, nicely fitted 
up, which are rented at $2 to $4 per day and $12 to 
$24 per week. Extending back from the hotel is 
a very large pavilion with a wide veranda, in which 
are seating and table accommodations for near- 
ly two thousand people. This contains also a 



WINDSOR. 73 

restaurant, refreshment, and cigar stands, and bar ; 
and music is furnished by Conterno's Twenty- 
third Regiment Band, comprising forty pieces. A 
platform 350 feet long extends out over the ocean, 
and here y^H may dine al fresco with the surf 
rolling up under your very feet. In the rear a 
large croquet ground is nicely graded and sodded 
for the amusement of guests. The hotel is a 
popular resort, especially for Germans ; and the 
restaurant is very good. {^See also Plaza ; and 
Restaurants.) 

West End Pier — [Map, D4-5] — is an unpainted 
ramshackle wooden structure, about 450 feet long, 
projecting into the ocean from a point about three 
quarters of a mile east of Norton's Point. The 
Grand Republic, of White's line of steamers, 
from New York, lands its passengers here. 
Rosedale Cottage, Half- Way House, and other 
minor hotels, little better than shanties, are in the 
vicinity of the pier, and there is a lunch pavilion 
attached to it. 

Windsor — [Map, D4] — is a neat frame cotlage 
at the west end just east of the West End Pier. 
There is a station on the Prospect Park and Coney 
Island branch road directly in the rear of this 
house. The house contains about 25 rooms, 
which are rented at from $5 to $7 a week each, 
•without board. 



APPENDIX. 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Hints on Bathing, ..... 77 

Surf Styles, . . . . . • 83 

Swimming, . . . • • • -85 

The Summer Stars, . . . . • 95 

Time-Tables, §<..,... m 

Calendar, ...... "S 



HINTS ON BA THING. 77 



HINTS ON BATHING.* 

See also Bathing, Bathing Suits, etc., in the 
regular Alphabet. 

When not to Bathe. — Just after a meal ; or when 
overfatigued, chilly, or overheated ; or (unless 
with the sanction of your physician) when suffering 
from any acute disease or laboring under any 
organic affection ; or at night, or early in the morn- 
ing ; or at unseasonable days. 

When to Bathe. — When in healthful condition ; 
when comfortably warm ; two to four hours after 

* Compiled chiefly from the following excellent little hand- 
books : Dr. John H. Packard's " Sea Air and Sea Bathing," 
one of Dr. Keen's admirable Health Primers (Phila., Presley 
Blakiston) ; Dr. Ghislani Durant's "Sea Bathing: its Use 
and Abuse" (N. Y., A. Cogswell) ; and Dr. C. Parson's " Sea 
Air and Sea Bathing," an English publication (Phila., Presley 
Blakiston). 

With a view of diminishing the loss of life which annually 
occurs from drowning, the Royal Humane Society of England 
issues the following important advice to bathers : "■ Avoid 
bathing within two hours after a meal, or when exhausted by 
fatigue or from any other cause, or when the body is cooling 
after perspiration, and avoid bathing altogether in the open 
air if, after being a short time in the water, there is a sense of 
chilliness, with numbness of the hands and feet, but bathe 
when the body is warm, provided no time is lost in getting 
into the water. Avoid chilling the body by sitting or standing 
undressed on the banks or in boats, after having been in the 
water, or remaining too long in the water, but leave the water 
immediately there is the slightest feeling of chilliness. The 
vigorous and strong may bathe early in the morning on an 
empty stomach, but the young and those who are weak had 
better bathe two or three hours after a meal ; the best time for 
such is from two to three hours after breakfast. Those who 
are subject to attacks of giddiness or faintness, and who suffer 
from palpitation and other sense of discomfort at the heart, 
should not bathe without first consulting their medical ad- 
viser." 



78 HINTS ON BA THING. 

a. meal, at any time between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. 
(from beginning of June to end of September). 
Best time immediately before and during High 
Water {which see in the regular Alphabet). 

Before the Bath. — When overheated take, before 
undressing, a moderate walk until perspiration 
has subsided ; don't try to cool off in bathing 
dress ; don't wait until entirely cooled off; slightly 
warm from moderate exercise rather heightens 
the bracing effects of the bath. 

Entering the Bath. — Enter resolutely and brisk- 
ly, until the water reaches the waist ; then plunge 
headlong or allow a wave to break over your 
head — all sensations of fear, dislike, chilliness or 
danger of congestion are thus at once dispelled. 
At any rate, wet immediately both chest and ab- 
domen before you " clutch the rope." 

How to Bathe. — Whatever you do, keep mov- 
ing and duck under. A common practice with 
people who cannot swim, says Dr. Durant, is to 
wade out until the water reaches the waist, stand 
still, and trom time to time immerse the remain- 
-der of the body as far as the shoulders, allowing 
the head to remain dry. A more injurious method 
of bathing can scarcely be imagined. If the 
bather desires a foot-bath, he had better by far 
obtain it in his own room. For those who have 
not learned how to swim, the best plan is to walk 
out quickly into the water (at least breast deep) 
then by moving about quickly, using both legs 
and arms, they may obtain satisfactory results. If, 
however, the bather prefers the surf to smooth 
water, the best way to proceed is to let the waves 
strike the lateral or the posterior portions of the 
body, allowing himself frequently to be entirely 
submerged. We would, however, advise all who 



HINTS ON BA THING. 79 

propose to bathe in the sea for any length of time 
to learn to swim. A knowledge of the art not 
only gives the bather more confidence in himself, 
but allows him to enjoy the water to an extent 
that otherwise would be impossible. In this 
exercise we find combined all the conditions 
necessary to attain, and that in a pleasing manner, 
the most beneficial effects of sea-water upon the 
system. {See article on Swimming, in Appendix.) 

How long and how often to bathe. — Five to fifteen 
minutes by the watch (if you have any to consult) 
should be the average duration of a bath. A 
safer guide is to leave the water as soon as the 
second chill is felt. The first sense of cold is 
felt on entering the water, which is soon followed 
by the feeling of returning warmth. The second 
cooling, then, shown specially by blueness of the 
lips or finger-nails, should invariably ho, the signal 
for leaving the water at once. There are men " to 
the water born," who can live in, if not on, water ; 
but every one should consult his own skin. The 
same remark applies to the " how often." One 
bath a day is enough for most people, although 
robust people may occasionally enter twice a day 
unharmed, and extraordinary people as often as 
they please. Some people don't mind headache, 
nausea, biliousness, syncope, etc., some do. 

After the bath. — If the day be vQxy warm, 
says Dr. Durant, the bather, after quitting the 
water, may, sheltering himself from the wind, 
remain in his bathing-dress and allow it to dry 
upon his person. This we think the best plan, 
as it permits the deposits of the saline particles 
on the skin, and by their stimulating action in-, 
sures reaction. Generally, however, walk briskly 
to the bathing-house and rub the body dry with 
a coarse towel until a healthy glow is produced, 



8o HINTS ON BA THING. 

When opportunity offers wash the head, previous 
to drying the body, with fresh water, so as to free 
the hair from salt, which would make it stiff and 
harsh (Packard), or to avoid those troublesome 
headaches (Durant). Moderate exercise, a short 
walk (not in the sun) on the beach, or a piazza, 
are advisable before giving yourself up to the 
demands of a vigorous appetite or the tempta- 
tions of the table. 

Children ought Jtever to be forced into the surf. 
— All the good effects which are expected from 
the bathing, says Dr. Packard, are nullified 
by the fright and nervous shock. The proper 
way is to get them gradually accustomed to the 
sea ; to let them have their bathing-clothes on, and 
play on the beach, when they will go to the 
edge of the water, and by-and-by find their own 
way in. Or they may be very gently tempted in 
by constant efforts, always seeing that they do 
not get frightened, or, if they do, letting them 
have plenty of time to become reassured. If they 
find that, after all, they are not hurt, and that no 
-attempt is made to force them in, they will soon 
gain confidence. 

Irritation of the Skin. — Not unfrequently a sea- 
bath is attended by a more or less troublesome 
irritation of the skin, for which the chemical 
composition of sea-water is a sufficient explana- 
tion. Most bathers will suffer no annoyance 
from this irritation, but with some persons it 
amounts to positive discomfort. In referring to 
this matter. Dr. Parsons observes: "The skin 
becomes rose-colored, sometimes scarlet, with 
elevated points scattered over the surface, giving 
rise occasionally to groundless alarm ; and there 
is much burning, tingling, and itching, particularly 
at night or when the body is warmed by exercise. 



HINTS ON BA THING. 8 1 

But these unpleasant symptoms gradually subside 
as soon as the skin has become accustomed to 
the bath, and no further inconvenience is expe- 
rienced." 

Headache. — Persons subject to headache are 
more or less liable to trouble in this direction, 
either during or after the bath, especially if their 
entrance into the water gives them too great a 
shock or if they remain in or under the water too 
long. "Occasionally," says Dr. Parsons, "con- 
gestive headache results from bathing too soon 
after a full meal or in the heat and glare of the 
midday sun." If due care is exercised in regard 
to the time selected for the bath, the unpleasant 
effect may be avoided, while in the case of persons 
of nervous temperament, with whom, not unfre- 
quently, "the very anticipation of the bath is suf- 
ficient to cause throbbing pain in the head, which 
immersion in the sea only intensifies, an effectual 
preventive will be found in the precaution of 
thoroughly wetting the head and making it per- 
fectly cool before entering the water." 

Nausea and Faintness. — A weak stomach some- 
times rebels against indulgence in a sea-bath, often 
accompanying its protests with nausea and vomit- 
ing after the bath, or, in the case of delicate 
women, with faintness also. Persons so inclined 
should not bathe before breakfast, or after too 
long abstinence from food, as the system is not 
sufficiently fortified to withstand the shock of 
immersion. Says Dr. Parsons on this point : 
" A glass of wine and rest in the recumbent pos- 
ture will obviate the distressing symptoms ; but 
common-sense dictates that the bath should never 
be attempted when the body is exhausted, and 
the circulation lowered by the want of food." 
6 



82 ■ HINTS ON BA THING. ' 

Water in the Ear. — Considerable annoyance is 
frequently caused by the water getting into the 
ears of bathers, particularly if they dive below 
the surface, or if there is a strong surf ; and it is 
affirmed that deafness, requiring medical treat- 
ment for its relief, has sometimes followed as a 
result. By way of precaution against the entrance 
of the water, says Dr. Packard, it is well to put a 
small piece of cotton lightly in to each ear before 
going into the sea. . . . The best way of get- 
ting rid of the water is that usually resorted to by 
boys after swimming, viz., to turn the head well 
over toward the affected side, putting a finger in 
the opposite ear, and then to hop about on one 
foot. A few moments of this exercise will gen- 
erally cause the water to escape in a stream. 



SURF STYLES. 83 



SURF STYLES FOR THE SEASON 1880. 

From the N. V. Herald, May 31, 1880. 

Bathing-dresses are as fanciful and striking as 
the taste of the wearer may elect and are no 
longer considered indelicate if they follow the 
outline of the form to some little extent. Favor 
is about equally divided between the blouse 
costume and the swimming costume, which latter 
is not so cumbrous in the water as the former. 
A novelty in bathing-shoes consists of a canvas 
sandal laced across the instep and quite high at 
the back ; the sole is of perforated brass, with 
small straps of leather under toe and heel. A 
fine brass network covers the perforations and 
prevents the sand from penetrating inside. There 
is a thin cork sole next the brass and over this 
a thin leather one, all perforated to let out the 
water. Almost all ladies object to bathing on 
the score of clumsy suits. With a pair of these 
bathing-shoes over the stockings the drawers need 
only reach the knees, the blouse need not be so 
long and the sleeves had either better be omitted, 
made very short or cut to fit the arm closely as 
the fashionable dress sleeve. The waist should be 
cut very high on the shoulders, so that the arm- 
hole clears the joint of the shoulder, and there 
will be no excuse for sore arms in the eflfort of 
swimming. If the arms and neck burn easily 
have the bathing costume made low in the neck, 
with only a strip across the shoulder, like the 
fashionable ball dress, and wear a scarlet or blue 
gauze vest, with high neck and long sleeves. A 
mixed nautical cotton and wool is best adapted 



84 ' SURP STYLES. 

to bathing, as it does not shrink like all wool, 
and does not heft with the water like all cotton. 

Among the new fabrics shown for seaside 
costumes is zephyr cloth, a fine cotton material 
with a woollen finish ; tally-ho suitings, all wool, 
in old gold ; Havana and French gray, all made 
up, either all of one shade or with admixtures of 
other colors and fabrics. Black silk is highly 
favored by the frequenters of the camp-meetings, 
the "L" and "T" brand of family silk being 
highly commended for elegance of finish, lustre 
and wearing qualities. American silks bid fair to 
rival the finest importations, some of those now 
in the market being considered unsurpassed in 
all the qualities that commend a good silk to 
favorable notice. For cool days out-of-town the 
American black silk and satin de Lyon are con- 
sidered almost indispensable to every well- 
dressed lady's wardrobe. 



SWIMMING. 



SWIMMING. 

" Leander" in the Illustrated Christian Weekly, 

As swimming is a healthy exercise and pleas- 
ant amusement, and as proficiency gives the ex- 
pert the power to save his own life as well as the 
lives of others, the acquirement of the art should 
be encouraged by parents, teachers, and also by 
the authorities. In France it is considered a 
necessary part of the boy's education, and the 
regular soldier is trained to swim, not only that he 
may save himself and comrades, but be more use- 
ful in building bridges, and all other work in the 
water incidental to military life. 

Females can and do learn to swim as easily as 
males, and their physical education should not be 
called complete until they have been taught to 
swim, because the expert male swimmer is often 
drowned in the attempt to save the female when 
she does not know how to support herself in 
the water, and cripples him by her frantic ef- 
forts to cling to him. Happily this has been con- 
sidered of late years in New York, and the free 
swimming-baths for both sexes have not only edu- 
cated a generation of experts among that class 
who are most exposed to the perils of the water, 
but have been the means of conserving the pub- 
lic health in a marked degree. Every day in the 
papers we see accounts of persons being saved 
from drowning. To-day the newsboy or boot- 
black of a dozen summers, waiting his turn to get 
into the free bath, saves a comrade who has fallen 
off the dock ; to-morrow the uniformed police- 
man risks his own life to save the would-be sui- 



86 SWIMMING. 

cide or the helpless inebriate. Upon inquiry you 
will nearly always find he is a graduate of the 
New York docks or the free-swimming-baths. 

There are several methods of swimming : the 
most common is forward, face downward, being 
illustrated by the accompanying cut. The theory 
of swimming depends upon the simple principle 
that if a force is applied to any body, it will move 
in the direction where there is the least resistance. 
This is seen in the motion of vessels and takes 
place in swimming, whether the animal be man, 
quadruped, bird, or fish. Directions to acquire 
the art have been elaborated until the person who 
cannot swim is appalled by their number, and 
concludes it must be a very difficult thing to do, 
and therefore dreads the water and never tries to 
learn. 

Cautio7i ! Do not undress and dash into the 
water after a long walk or run, or when much 
heated. Do not enter the water when the stomach 
is entirely empty, nor when you are fatigued by 
either hard mental or physical labor. The most 
common cause of cramp in the legs or arms is 
due to ignorance of or neglect of these simple 
precautions. Do not go into the water sooner 
than two or three hours after a hearty meal, as it 
interferes with digestion and nullifies any good 
to be obtained by the exercise. For beginners 
especially : Do not stay in the water too long ; 
ten minutes, or at most twenty, will be enough 
for one not accustomed to the water. 

Walk gently into the water breast-deep, wet the 
head and neck with the hands, lie down lightly, 
face downward, holding head and neck well up, 
keeping the eyes fixed upward. Strike out with 
both feet from the bottom, at the same time shov- 
ing the hands forward, palm-to-palm to the full 



SWIMMING. 



87 



length of the arms, sweep the arms around not 
quite a quarter circle (as seen in illustration), 




turning the palm of the hand gradually outward 
to get the largest pulling power against the 
water. The arms are drawn back quickly, elbows 
close to the ribs, hands together as before, feet 
drawn up as close to the body as possible, and 
the motions repeated as before. The stroke of 
the feet should be in time with the pulling sweep 



88 SWIMMING. 

of the hands, to get the most speed with the least 
waste of strength. The stroke of the feet should 
be also a little downward thereby lifting the 
breast upward and making the breathing easier. 
Don't try to do too much at one lesson ! If you 
can swim three strokes without going under, it is a 
fair start. 

A great many become discouraged and say, 
" Oh, I can't learn to strike out right, I can't keep 
time with my legs and arms." The best example 
of a natural swimmer is the frog. Catch one and 
put him in a tub of water or an aquarium-tank, 
and he will teach you more about the way to do 




it easily than all the professors of swimming. 
There are many appliances, such as life-belts, 
cork-jackets, inflated bladders, etc., recommend- 
ed as aids in learning to swim. They should 
not be used, as the person learning even the mo- 
tions perfectly by their use is nearly always timid 
without them. Diving, floating, swimming on 
the back, on the side, etc., are all easily learned 
after the pupil has acquired the method described 
above. 

A recent English writer well says : "Man is the 
only animal that drowns unnecessarily. He does 
so because the knowledge he ought to possess 



SWIMMING. 89 

does not come to his rescue, as does the instinct 
of the brute. A dog, or a horse, or any other 
quadruped, when it finds itself out of its depth, 
swims away with its head above water, and 
usuUy gets safe to land. Man not finding him- 
self in his natural position, is filled with terror, 
stretches his hands out of the water^ which helps 
him to sink, or opens his mouth to scream, which 
fills his lungs with water instead of air. The re- 
sult is obvious. If we could only have faith in 
the natural buoyancy of the body, and when cast 
unexpectedly upon the water, remain passively 
upon it, with the mouth tightly closed, many lives 
might be saved that are now annually lost." 

Sanford B. Hunt in St. Nicholas. 

In a practical and most instructive article in 
St. Nicholas (volume for 1877) entitled "A Talk 
about Swimming," Mr. Sanford B. Hunt makes 
the following hints and suggestions : " Get accus- 
tomed to the shock of water. Wade slowly out, 
then turn and face the shore ; duck under in 
water deep enough to cover the body (say two 
feet), get your head wet, hold your breath when 
under, snort as you come to the air again, resist- 
ing the inclination to breathe in first; and then 
in a depth of a foot or two lie down, face down- 
ward, and touch the tips of your fingers on the 
sand or the bed of the stream. You will find 
that a very slight lift, hardly two ounces, will 
keep your head afloat, but not your heels. Use 
them as oars. Drop out backward into deeper 
water, walking on your finger tips, and you will 
find that the more of your body there is under 
the water the less weight you have to carry. The 
only parts to keep in the air are your lips and 



go SWIMMING. 

nostrils. Make these the only exposed surface ; 
hollow your loins and carry your head well back, 
so as to have it perpendicular to the lungs. All 
this is mere paddling ; but you will soon find that 
keeping afloat is no trouble, unless you keep too 
high and try to swim as much in the air as in the 
water. In swimming you must lie low. The legs 
should be well under and so should the hands ; 
the chin in the water, the legs at an angle of 
thirty-three degrees. The theory is that you 
should use the feet as a counterpoise to the head 
— the chest, the buoyant part of the body, being 
the fulcrum of the lever. If your heels go up, 
your head will go down. Now stop paddling, 
abandon the grip of your hands on the bottom, 
keep your head toward the shore and strike out. 
Two feet depth of water is enough for the lesson. 

"Keep both hands well under water. You 
can't swim in the air. Hold your fingers together, 
the palms of the hands slightly hollowed, the 
head well back, the chest inflated, and strike with 
all four limbs in unison of movement. The 
hands and the feet will act as propellers, the hands 
moving backward and downward as low as the 
hips and well outside of the body, the feet draw- 
ing together and pushing down at the same mo- 
ment. Give full spread to your hands and feet. 
Their resistance to the water is your propelling 
force. Then gather, frog fashion, and repeat the 
motion. You rid yourself of the sense of danger 
by keeping in shallow water and striking toward 
shore. Work in that way a while and the tempta- 
tions will be irresistible to swira. from shore ; but 
this temptation should be very carefully indulged 
until you feel sure of yourself." 

Floating. — With regard to floating, Mr. Hunt 
remarks : "It needs only self-possession and 



SWIMMING. 91 

Still water. One attitude which seems the most 
scientific, but which I never worked with any 
considerable success, is to lie upon your back 
with only the mouth and nostrils out of water, 
and the arms, extended backward, balancing the 
legs, the lungs being at the fulcrum of the lever. 
I have seen such floating done without the mo- 
tion of a muscle, except that the lungs were kept 
inflated. But as a personal habit I float better 
with my legs deeper in the water, and my hands 
wrapped under the small of my back, the body 
in a semi-perpendicular position. You have 
plenty of time to breathe if you are only self- 
confident." {^See also Floating, below ^ 



Cautionary. — The following cautions are from 
Dr. Packard's " Sea Air and Sea Bathing : " 

It is not safe to swim in the sea when the tide 
is running out, as then it is difficult to make 
headway towards the shore. {See High Water 
in regular Alphabet^ 

It is not safe to swim when there is a heavy surf, 
as even a good swimmer may be so confused and 
baffled by waves breaking over him as to lose his 
presence of mind and perhaps swim seaward in- 
stead of to the shore ; or he may be so exhausted 
by the force of the water as to sink. 

It is not safe to swim when there are strong 
currents in the general line of the shore, as these 
sometimes set outward enough to keep the 
bather in deep water longer than his powers can 
hold out. Should he find himself in such a 
current, he should never try to make head 
directly against it, but should swim diagonally 
towards the shore, and above all, should try to 
keep his presence of mind, and save his strength. 

Cramp, although much less apt to occur in sea 



92 SWIMMING. 

than in river bathing, is sometimes brought on 
if the water is very cold. The person affected 
should be at once helped ashore, when warmth 
and frictions will probable give speedy relief. 
No person subject to this very painful affection 
should swim unless a boat is constantly close at 
hand. 

When a swimmer becomes exhausted, if he will 
turn on his back and float, he can often regain 
his strength, and with it his self-possession. This 
latter is of the utmost possible importance ; the 
moment it is lost, and the bather begins to 
struggle and to call for help, the danger is im- 
minent. A swimmer should never lose his 
courage. 




Floating is a very pleasant form of bathing, and 
easily learned if one has only confidence. It 
consists in turning on the back, and keeping the 
nose and mouth out of the water. Of course 
this cannot be done when the surf is very rough, 
and it is best always to have some one near, lest, 
without his knowledge, a current or the tide 
should carry the floater out into deep water. 
Lives have been lost for want of this precaution. 
(ySee also Floating above.) 

Danger of the Piers. — The piers, stretching out 
several hundred feet into the ocean, not only 



SWIMMING. 93 

enable one to obtain a different and much finer 
view of the surf than is possible from the beach, 
but they also afford the luxury of a breeze even 
when little or no air is stirring on the beach. 
Swimmers, however, cannot be too cautious in 
regard to bathing at these piers. Their effect 
upon the beach itself, is not good, as they act 
upon the principle of the jetty, in deepening the 
water in their vicinity. They are most danger- 
ous as refuges for exhausted swimmers, as I 
have more than once seen. A man makes out 
to reach one of them and clings to the support- 
ing piles, with the waves breaking over him con- 
tinually, since either to climb up on the pier or 
to sustain himself above the level of the wave- 
crests is no easy matter after a long swim for 
life ; hence, unless assistance comes in some other 
way, he must soon be washed off. 

Undertoiv. — To a greater or less extent the 
undertow — " that merciless drag backward of the 
sea, the topmost wave washing the swimmer illu- 
sively toward the shore, the undermost sucking 
him down and out" — exists at all our Northern 
beaches. As a matter of course all the water that 
rolls shoreward in a heavy surf must go back 
again. On this point, Mr. Hunt, in his St. 
Nicholas article, remarks : " The top-sea rolls in 
and the under-sea rolls out. Trust to the former. 
Keep clear afloat, and as high as you can. Secure 
the friendship of the shoreward wave. Other- 
wise, if, when you are within ten feet of shore 
and safety, you drop your legs to the angle of 
thirty-three degrees, which is the deepest swim- 
ming position, you will find that the undertow 
will grab you by the ankles and pull you out and 
down again. Keep clear afloat ; your head well 
down, your heels feeling ^the topmost of the im- 



94 SWIMMING. 

pelling wave. Keep your lungs well filled and 
wash ashore. You are not safe until you can 
easily fasten your hands in the sand or gravel, 
and pull yourself to land. But in shallow water, 
with a long surf rolling in behind you, the drag 
of the undertow can only be avoided by swim- 
ming high and letting the waves ' buck ' you 
in. Stvim shallow and trust the topmost wave.*' 

Safety-hint. — A person in danger close to the 
shore, may often be reached and drawn in by a 
line of men joining hands. This only needs 
coolness and courage on the part of the outer- 
most men of the line (Who should be the tallest) 
and above all, firmness of grip." 



THE SUMMER STARS. I 95 



" One'never can be alone if he is familiarly acquainted 
•with the stars. He rises early in the summer m.orning 
that he may see his winter friends ; in winter., that he may 
gladden himself with a sight of summ.er stars. He hails 
their successive rising as he does the coming of his personal 
friends from beyond the sea.'''' — Henry White Warren. 

THE SUMMER STARS.* 

The following brief directions have no other 
object than to introduce a new element of 
pleasure into the long summer evenings spent at 
the seaside. No attempt is made at scientific 
explanation, the most direct mode being chosen 
for pointing out in the grand picture gallery 
of the heavens the most beautiful and favorite 
pictures, such as can be easily found and 
detached, named and remembered, and such, 
indeed, as, once recognized, will never be for- 
gotten. Should a few hours thus spent in 
quiet contemplation kindle in some the desire 
to know more about the nature of the heavenly 
bodies, let him take up one of the books (men- 
tioned below) from which we have gathered 
these crumbs, and he will find himself richly 
rewarded by the study. One such result in a 
thousand or ten thousand would indeed make 

* Compiled from the following popular hand-books, all of 
which can be safely recommended for more serious study : 
Proctor's " Half-Hours with the Stars ;" Proctor's " Half-Hours 
with the Telescope" (New York : Putnams) ; and James Free- 
man Clarke's "^ How to Find the Stars" (Boston : Lockwood, 
Brooks & Co.). A few popular descriptions have been taken 
from Newcomb's " Popular Astronomy," the most extensive 
of the works mentioned, and H. W. Warren's " Recreations in 
Astronomy" (both, N. Y. : Harpers) ; also from Proctor's 
entertaining series of articles in the St. Nicholas., for 1877, 
which is to appear in book-form shortly. 



9^ THE SUMMER STARS. 

amends for the existence of this butterfly guide, 
which, skimming the surface without a why and 
wherefore, has no eye but for tangible beauty, or 
beauty that can be felt without telescope. 

Any one not already familiar with some of the 
constellations is cautioned not to attempt too 
much on the same evening. Let him read up 
and commit to memory all that is said on one 
constellation. The finding and study of one or 
two constellations is quite an encouraging be- 
ginning, and their recognition, on subsequent 
evenings, is only a small foretaste of the pleasure 
that will increase with increasing acquaintance. 
Don't be discouraged by the bewildering confu- 
sion of the first attempts to detect a certain star 
picture. Your eyes have to travel man)"- times 
over the skies before they will learn to recognize 
at a glance your friends among the millions. 

Finding the Pole Star. 

{Popularly known as the " North Star.'') 

First look for Ursa Major, the Great Bear. 
Standing on the beach facing the ocean, turn 
right about face, look up, toward the left (north- 
west), and you cannot miss the familiar set of 
seven bright stars of the Great Bear, better 
known as the Dipper, owing to its shape, four 
of the stars forming its cup, three its handle.* 
The two end stars (of the cup, or the most dis- 
tant from the handle, and at this season the low- 
estf) are called xhe Pointers, because they always 

* Suspended from the two lower stars are two tassels, each 
consisting of three stars, two near each other at the end of the 
tassel, and the third nearer the Dipper. Another pair of small 
stars make a third tassel. — Clarke. 

t Supposing you'look for the Dipper at various seasons, say 
at nine o'clock in the evening, you will see it in the various 



THE SUMMER STARS. 



97 




Summer Star Map. 

\,See Explanation on next j>agei\ 



q8 THE SUMMER STARS. 



EXPLANATION , OF MAP. 

This map is a reproduction of one of Proctor's Star Maps, 
giving, as follows, the approximate position of the more promi- 
nent stars during summer : 

^«^^y««^— toward midnight. 
Middle of July — toward eleven o'clock. 
End of July — toward ten o'clock. 
Middle of A u£usl— toward nine o'clock. 
End of August — toward eight o'clock. 

The shifting of the stars during the intervening hours can 
be followed by bearing in mind that stars seen at a certain 
hour and place will appear on the same spot three to four 
minutes sooner on the following evening, or about two hours 
earlier a month later. {See also., p. loo, " The Apparent Mo- 
tion of the Stars.") In this map the central point represents 
the point over the observer's head, and the circumference his 
horizon. Thus, if at one of the hours named the observer wish- 
es to find " Aquila," its position on the map shows where to 
look for it toward the S. E. (southeast), about midway be- 
tween zenith and horizon. Next, if at one of the hours named 
the observer wishes to learn what stars are visible toward the 
west and southwest, let him turn ^the map until the portion of 
the circumference between W. and S. W. is lowermost, and he 
will see that in the direction named lies " Bootes" in promi- 
nent position. 

Some allowance should be made, in the star map, for a 
small difference of the horizon, chiefly noticeable north and 
south. Thus, while in the south Scorpio and Sagittarius are 
seen higher above the horizon at the hours indicated, " Au- 
riga," at the extreme north, will rise into full view later in the 
season. 



THE SUMMER STARS. 99 

point to the Pole Star. This star is easily found 
by drawing a line through the Pointers (from the 
star in the bottom of the cup to the end star) and 
following this direction a short distance* — the first 
bright star you meet is the Pole Star. 

The Pole Star. — This found, you have a known 
central point, and your never-failing compass, 
for wherever you may stand, facing the Pole Star, 
the north lies before you, the south behind you, 
the east on your right, the west on your left. The 
Pole Star lies always in the same position, or so 
nearly so that if, for example, you have once been 
shown or found out that from a certain spot in 
your garden, or from a certain window in your 
bouse, it can be seen just above a certain 
chimney or tree, you will find it in ^his direc- 
tion on any starry night, at any time of the year. 

The Pole Star belongs to the constellation of 
Ursa Minor ox the Smaller Bear, and figures in 
its tail ; or, if you prefer the more popular 
picture, in the handle of the Little Dipper. Both 
Dippers are of similar shape, except that the 
handles bend in, and always point to, opposite 
directions, and that, some of the stars of the Little 
Dipper are much fainter. The two end stars, 
which with the Pole Star are the brightest of the 
constellation, and which correspond with the 
Pointers in the Dipper, viz., being the end stars 
of the cup, are called the Guardians of the Pole, 

positions as follows : Above the Pole Star (north of the zenith) 
in April and May ; west of the Pole Star (west of north), the 
Pointers downward (lowest) ; close to the north horizon, in 
October and November ; east of the Pole Star, the Pointers 
highest, in January and February. 

* It will be of much help to get some idea of distance in 
degrees. The two stars of the Pointers are 5 degrees apart; 
thus following the Pointers nearly five times this distance (29 
degrees) we come to the Pole Star. 



100 THE SUMMER STARS, 

"because they circle around it," according to 
Proctor, "as though keeping watch and ward over 
the axle-end of the great star-dome." 

The Apparent: Motion of the Stars. ^ — Stand fac- 
ing the Pole Star. Then all the stars are travel- 
ling round that star in a direction contrary to that 
in which the hands of a watch move. Thus the 
stars below the pole are moving toward the right, 
those above the pole toward the left, those to the 
right of the, pole upward (from the east), those to 
the left of the pole downward (to the west). 

Next face the south. Then all the stars on our 
left, that is toward the east, are rising slantingly 
toward the south ; those due south are moving 
hjorizontally to the right, that is, toward the west, 
and those on our right are passing slantingly 
downward'toward the west.f 

The annual motion of the stars takes place in 
exactly the same manner as the daily motion, | 

*The seeming, motions of the sun and the stars, as they travel 
from east to west, or seem, to rise in the east and set in the 
west, are not real movements of their own, but made to appear 
4S such by the actual movement or spinning of the earth from 
we&t to east. There are real or proper motions of the stars, 
but not perceptible to the naked eye. The chief and most 
wonderful peculiarity of the fixed stars, says Clarke, is that 
they virtually never change their positions in relation to each 
other. Thus the forms of constellations appear unaltered for 
thousands of years, 

t In a clear night the heavens seem like a vast dome 
studded with stars. They appear to rise in the east and 
sweep, like a mighty army, perfectly disciplined, west. If 
each left its line of march marked by a tracery of golden fire, 
we should have a dome of parallel lines in perfect circles. And 
if we should go south of the equator new stars would appear 
circling in another dome, and all concentric at the south pole. 
All these stars seem to be at the same distance, — Hhnry W. 
Warren, 

$ "By the revolution of the earth, which turns on its axis 
every twenty-four hours, every observer is brought round once 
a day to every point of the heavens, except that portion which 



THE SUMMER STARS. lOI 

If we view the sky at ten o'clock on any night, 
and again at the same hour one month later, we 
shall find that at the latter observation the heav- 
ens appear to have rotated by the twelfth part of 
a complete circumference, and the appearance 
presented is precisely the same we should have 
observed had we waited for two hours (the twelfth 
part of a day) on the day of the first observation. — 
(Proctor.) 

South, Southeast, and East. ^ 

Face the Ocean : it is toward the south that 
the heavens present the most glorious dispJay 
during summer. 

Scorpio, the chief summer constellation (resem- 
bling a scorpion with extended claws), is in full 
view above the horizon in June and July ; 
descending southwest in August. The, bright, 
ruddy star is Antares (the Heart of the Scorpion), 
a star of first magnitude, and perhaps the most 
beautiful of all the red stars. The word " An- 
tares" means, in fact, " the rival of Mars." It has 
a smaller star on each side and a long curved row 
of stars to the west. 

Antares sets during August between 12 and 10 ; 
September, 10 and 8 p.m. 

SagittaritiSy the Archer, is fully above the hori- 
zon in July, closely following Scorpio. It com- 
prises a large collection of second magnitude 
stars east of Scorpio and in and east of the 

is hidden by the rotundity of the earth itself. To an observer 
in the Northern Hemisphere all parts of the heavens become 
visible every year, except the region around the Southern 
Pole. Were it not for the daylight, which eclipses a portion, 
we should see all the other stars once in every twenty-four 
hours. But during the year we have an opportunity, by the 
revolution of the earth in its orbit, to see them all except those 
at the extreme south."— James Frebman Clarke. 



102 777^ SUMMER STARS. 

Milky Way. Its chief stars resemble a bow and 
arrow, the arrow directed toward the scorpion. 

Saggitarius is followed from the east by Capri- 
cornus, the She-Goat, and this, in same direction, 
by Aquarius, the Water-bearer, neither of which 
have any remarkable stars. These {all along the 
horizon) are followed by Pegasus (which see 
further on.) 

The Milky Way, or Galaxy^ in a clear, star- 
light night, at this season, makes a fine ■ display, 
spanning the skies from north to south. Its su- 
perior brilliancy toward the south indicates its 
greater proximity in that direction. 

As some of the most prominent constellations 
lie along or near the Milky Way, we will, starting 
from Sagittarius, point out these first, by follow- 
ing the cloudy stream from south to north ; but 
the Milky Way being only in good sight on clear 
dark nights, we will also indicate their position 
independent of this path. 

Aquila, the Eagle.— Following upward the lar- 
ger branch of the Milky Way, or looking above 
Sagittarius, eastward, about midway between ze- 
nith and horizon, we strike three bright stars in 
cross-way line (six degrees long), which form the 

* To the naked eye so much of the Galaxy as can be seen 
at one time presents the appearance of a white, cloud-like 
arch resting on two opposite points of the horizon, and rising 
to a greater or less altitude, according to the position of the 
celestial sphere relative to the observer. Only one half of the 
entire arch can be seen above the horizon at once, the other 
half being below it and directly opposite the visible half. In- 
deed, there is a portion of it which can never be seen at our 
latitude, being so near the south pole that it is always below 
the horizon. If the earth were removed, or made transparent, 
so that we could see the whole celestial sphere at once, the 
Galaxy would appear as a complete belt extending around it. 
The telescope shows that the Galaxy arises from the light of 
countless stars (estimated over 18,000,000), too minute to be 
separately visible with the naked eye.— Simon Newcomb. 



THE SUMMER STARS. IO3 

head of the Eagle. The finely scintillating star 
in the middle, called Altair, is of first magnitude, 
the other two are of third magnitude. Five or 
six other stars extending and spreading below 
Altair give the shape of the constellation. Parts 
of the Milky Way, near and in the Eagle, are 
very bright, and even with a small telescope seem 
to be crowded with stars. 

Altair reaches south, in August, between 11 and 
9 ; middle of September, 8 p.m. 

Cygnus, the Swan. — Beyond the Eagle, further 
up, and directly in the Milky Way, you will no- 
tice six stars forming a conspicuous cross (or as 
Proctor remembered it in his boyhood, " a capi- 
tal kite "), twenty degrees long by seventeen de- 
grees wide, its chief star, Deneb, heading it. The 
cross is east, in a horizontal position, nearer zenith 
than midway in July ; in Aug. and Sept. approach- 
ing the zenith, the upright and cross- rod of the 
cross equally inclined to the horizon. Near 
Deneb there is seen a straight dark rift, and near 
this space is another larger cavity, which has been 
termed the northern Coal-sack. The western 
branch of the Milky Way is covered by a large 
oval mass exceedingly ric}i and brilliant. 

Lyra, the Harp. — Near the zenith, west and 
southwest of the Swan, and above, north and 
northwest of the Eagle, shines the bright Vega, 
the principal star of Lyra,* of first magnitude 
and of a brilliant white color with a tinge of blue. 

* The Harp, the Swan and the Eagle can be struck at once 
by looking up, east (later more south-southwest), between 
midway and zenith — the three brightest stars standing out 
against all the others, form an immense and very striking 
(isoscles) triangle. They are : the lowest, Altair of the Eagle; 
the highest, Vega of the Harp ; and north or east of these 
Deneb of the Swan, all stars of the first magnitude. 



I04 THE SUMMER STARS. 

This and two faint stars (two degrees only from 
each other) form a beautiful little triangle, , 
nearly equilateral. 

Pegasus, the Winged-Horse. — Below, east of 
Deneb in the Swan (top of cross), Pegasus is 
rising into view, easily recognized by four stars 
of second magnitude, which form the large 5^^^;-^ 
of Pegasus, three stars belonging to Pegasus, 
and the fourth (northeast corner) to Andromeda, 
which follow later in the season, Pegasus from 
the northeastern horizon. 

The Square is above the horizon toward end of 
June at ii, end of July at 9 p.m. 

The Dolphin and Sagitia. — Although but very 
small constellations, formed by rather faint stars, 
their symmetrical forms make them easily dis- 
cernible. The Dolphin, sometimes called "Job's 
Coffin," four or five stars in diamond shape, is 
between the Square of Pegasus and Altair of 
the Eagle. Sagitta, or the Arrow, is the smallest 
constellation, formed by four stars, of fourth 
magnitude, to be found, near the Dolphin, above 
the Eagle and below the Swan. 

South, Southwest, West. 
Bootes, the Bearkeeper. — Look for the Dip- 
per (see directions above). Continuing the curve 
of the handle (about the same distance as is be- 
tween the Pointers and the Pole Star, viz., about 
thirty degrees), you strike the most brilliant star 
in the southwestern skies. This is Anturus, the 
" ruddy star" of Bootes, a fine constellation 
which, in the western skies, retains a prominent 
position during the whole summer. Arcturus, 
on account of its brilliancy, is seen early in the 
evening. Above Arcturus the constellation is 
reaching high up, presenting " a fine figure as with 



THE SUMMER STARS. 105 

uplifted arm (formed by the stars of the Crown, 
which see below) he chases the Great Bear round 
the zenith." The smaller brilliant star (orange 
and green, above Arcturus and nearly central of 
the constellation) is known as Mirac, also on ac- 
count of its extreme beauty (through the tele- 
scope) called " Pulcherrima" (the most beautiful). 
The curve of the handle of the Dipper continued 
through Arcturus further down, west (about forty 
degrees), strikes Spica of Virgo (the Virgin), 
another star of first magnitude and visible until 
of August. 

Arcturus sets in September between 10.30 and 
8,30 P.M. 

Virgo^ the Virgin, is not far above the western 
horizon ; somewhat in the shape of a big rounded 
Y in horizontal position, formed by Spica as base 
and the curve of the stars above it. Virgo is 
closely following, from the southwest to west, 
downward, Leo, the Lion, which is approaching 
the horizon, in the shape of a sickle inclined for- 
ward, the bright star, Regulus, in the handle. 

Spica sets in August, Regulus in July, between 
10 and 8 p.m. 

Fornalhaut. — Later in the season, the bright 
star of Fornalhaut, belonging to the small con- 
stellation Pisces Austrealis, the Southern Fish, 
will make its solitary appearance low in the 
southern region. 

Ophiuchusy the Serpent-bearer and the Serpent. 
— Below, or south of Bootes, above, or north of 
Scorpio and west of the Milky Way we find this 
pair of constellations. Ophiuchus stands with 
one foot on Scorpio, while his head is marked 
high up by a star of the second magnitude, the 
figure occupying one third to one fourth of the 



I06 THE SUMMER STARS. 

way from the zenith to the horizon. The Serpent, 
which he holds in his hands, lies with its tail in 
an opening of the Milky Way, southwest of the 
Eagle, while its neck and head are formed by a 
collection of small stars some distance north of 
Scorpio, and extending up to the borders of 
Bootes. It is very difficult for the beginner to 
get clear boundaries of these combined constella- 
tions. He may notice a fine line of six bright 
little stars, inclined toward west ; the lower 
three, south, belong to Ophiuchus, the upper 
three to the Serpent. These stars, with the 
brightest star at the eastern end of the line, and 
a curve of two smaller stars at the western end, 
resemble somewhat the form of a monstrous 
sword or curved sabre, the cross handle being 
formed by two stars, one above and one below 
the line.* 

Hercules. — High up, east of Bootes, west of 
Lyra, and north of Ophiuchus, Hercules ex- 
tends up toward the zenith. It contains no 
striking star, but is easily recognized by its con- 
taining a rather irregular quadrangle. A straight 
line drawn from the fifth and third star of the 
Dipper (counting from the handle) will strike it. 

Draco, the Dragon, lies with his head just north 
of Hercules, the head represented by three stars 
in an equilateral triangle ; the body, seven faint 
stars, forms a long curved line bending round be- 
tween the Great and the Little Dipper. 

* The large constellation Ophiuchus is not specially in- 
teresting. The figure is an absurd one, the legs being singu- 
larly feeble. But it must be admitted he is awkwardly placed. 
The serpent is quite enough to occupy his attention, yet a 
scorpion is ready to sting one }eg and tg pinch the other. The 
club of Hercules may be meant for the serpent, and the arrow 
of the Archer for the scorpion, but they seem to threaten the 
Serpent-Bearer as much. -^Proctor in St. Nicholas., 1877. 



THE SUMMER STARS. 107 

Coro7ia Borealis, the Northern Crown, a smaller 
constellation east of and close to Bootes, west 
of Hercules, and just above the Serpent's head, 
is composed of a pretty semi-circle of six stars, 
supposed to form a chaplet or crown. The third 
nearest Bootes, the most brilliant, is Alpherat, a. 
star of second magnitude. 

North, Northeast. 

The northern region, in strange contrast to the 
brilliant southern sk}-, shows no large stars and 
no prominent constellation is in good posi- 
tion for observation with the exception of 
Cassiopeia, or the Lady in the Chair, readily 
recognized by five stars (northeast, in the Milky 
Way), in the form of an open "straggling" W. 
It is on the opposite side of the Pole Star from 
the Dipper ; a line drawn from the centre of the 
latter (where the handle joins the cup) through the 
Pole Star, about the same distance beyond it, 
will strike the last star of the W, which now is 
yearly upright (not reversed, as erroneously 
shown in map). 

Auriga, the Charioteer, will rise later in the 
season in the north-eastern sky, where it will 
attract attention by its brightly scintillating star 
of first magnitude, called Capella, the Goat. 

Capella rises in the latter part of July toward 
. II ; middle of August to middle of September, 
between 10 and 8 p.m. 

The Planets. 

The planets, the restless wanderers, are easily 
distinguished from the fixed stars by their steady 
light, as they never, like the latter, twinkle or 
scintillate, except when verj' near the horizon. 



I08 THE SUMMER STARS. 

Jupiter, "the giant planet,"* will be evening 
star after July gth. He is easily recognized by 
his brilliant white light, with which he outshines 
every other planet except Venus. He will be at 
his brightest on the night of October 7th, when 
he will be in opposition.! A month or two be- 
fore opposition (this year, July to September), he 
can be seen rising (east) late in the evening, 
while during the three months following opposi- 
tion he will always be seen in the early evening 
somewhere between southeast and southwest. 
Jupiter rises after middle of July, toward 11 ; be- 

f inning of August, toward 10 ; after middle of 
uly, toward 9 p.m. He will be near the moon 
July 27th, August 23d and September 20th. 

The following interesting account- we borrow 
from the learned and enthusiastic astronoiner of 
the Providence Journal : 

"It cannot be too strongly impressed upon the 
minds of students of the stars, that the four great 
planets are all approaching their perihelia (points 
nearest the sun), and bringing about a condition 
of planetary affairs that has not occurred for two 
thousand years. Jupiter reaches the goal first, 
arriving at perihelion on the 25th of September. 
Such is the eccentricity of his orbit that he will 
then be forty-six millions, of miles, or about h^lf 
of the whole distance of the earth from the sun, 

* No one can mistake this orb when it shines on a dark sky, 
and only Venus can be mistaken for it when seen as a morning 
or evening star. Sometimes both are seen together on the 
twilight sky, and then Venus is generally the brighter. Seen, 
however, at her brightest, her splendor scarcely exceeds that 
which Jupiter shines when high above the eastern horizon at 
midnight. — Proctor. 

+ The planets are said to be " in opposition " when the sun, 
earth and the planet are in a line, the earth being in the 
mididle ; " at or in perihelion" when the planet is nearest the 
sun. 



THS: SUMMnR STARS. IQQ 

nearer to the great central fire than when farthest 
away. He is also at that time almost at his 
nearest point to the earth, coming into opposition 
with the sun eleven days after perihelion. The 
earth is then directly between him and the sun ; 
but the earth is farthest from the sun in July, and 
will be at considerably more than her mean dis- 
tance in September, when Jupiter is forty-six 
million miles nearer. It may easily be seen that 
when at opposition the earth is at or near her 
greatest distance, and Jupiter at his least distance, 
from the sun, the two planets will be almost as 
near together as they can be. Such will be the case 
next October, and the giant of the system will soon 
give evidence of the fact in his increasing size 
and brilliancy, being brighter than he has been 
for nearly twelve years. Jupiter, therefore, will 
be a source of intense interest during the comiilg 
months as he approaches and recedes from his 
perihelion and opposition. The great problem 
of the effect of his approach upon the mysterious 
spot-period of the sun will be first in importance. 
Many astronomers scout the idea of such an in- 
fluence. Many more find nothing improbable in 
the theory that the approach of a huge mass to 
the sun should produce disturbance in his blaz- 
ing elements, evidently in commotion from 
some cause, while the near correspondence in 
time between the maximum of the spot-period and 
the revolution of Jupiter favors the argument. 
No one doubts that the disturbed condition of 
the sun will be reflected on the earth in waves of 
intense heat, severe storms and auroral displays, 
or that the same influence will be felt in the same 
way to the system's remotest bounds." 

Saturn closely follows Jupiter, and, according 
to our Providence authority, "holds his place not 



no THE SUMMER STARS. 

far away from his more brilliant rival. He, too, 
the second in size of the giant members of the 
brotherhood, is travelling toward his opposition 
with the sun, and more' slowly toward perihelion, 
so that he is increasing in size and donning a 
clearer tint than the murky one tKat has marked 
his presence." He rises about half an hour later 
than Jupiter, toward end of July to end of August, 
between ii and 9. To recognize Saturn in his 
glory with his moons and bright rings he must be 
seen through the telescope. 

Venus will be the evening star after July 13th. 
Next to the sun and the moon, she is the most 
brilliant object in the heavens. She never recedes 
more than about 45 degrees from the sun, and is, 
therefore, seen by night only in the western sky 
in the evening, or the eastern sky in the morning, 
according as she is east or west of the sun. There 
is, therefore, seldom any difficulty in recognizing 
her. When at her greatest brilliancy, she can be 
clearly seen by the naked eye in the daytime, 
provided that one knows exactly where to look 
for her. Venus will be nearest the moon August 
ist and September 5th. 

Mars is travelling far off and not seen at his 
best, his ruddy light growing dimmer in turning 
down west. Mars sets during July and toward 
middle of August between 9.30 and 8 p.m. 



TIME TABLES. 



TIME-TABLES 

For Railroads and Steamboats running to Coney 
Island. 

[The following tables are all that can be supplied up to date 
of publication. Revised tables will be given in later editions.] 

RAILROADS. 

Briglitoii Beach..— Brooklyn, Flatbush, and Co- 
ney Island Railway. — Trains leave Flatbtisk Avenue, Long- 
Island Depot, Brooklyn, hourly from 6.30 to 9.15 a.m., and 
from 9.15 A.M. to 9.45 P.M. half hourly. Separate trains run 
from Bedford\i2M'^o\ix\y from 11.34 -A-m. to 9.34 p.m. 

Trains yri?^/ Brighton Beach for Flatbush Avenue leave at 
6.40, 7.40, 8.40, 9.10, 9.40, 10.10, 10.40, 11.10 A.M. ; 12.10, 12.40, 
1. 10, 1.40, 2.10, 2.40, 3.10, 3.40, 4.10, 4.40, 5. 10, 5.40, 6.10, 6.40, 
7.10, 7.40, 8.10, 8.40, 9.10, 9.40 P.M. 

Trains from Brighton Beach for Bedford and Prospect 
Park leave at 6.40, 7.40, 8.40, 9.10, 9.40, 10.10, 10.40, and 11.25 
A.M. ; 12.5s, 1.25, 1.55, 2.25, 2.5s, 3.25, 3.55, 4.25, 4.55, 5.25, 
S-55i 6.25, 6.55, 7.25, 7.55, 8.25, 8.55, 9-25, 9-4o p.m. 

The 6.30, 7.15, and the 6.40 and 7.40 a.m. trains do not run 
on Sundays. 

This table may be varied from on bad days. 

Flatbush Avenue, Long Island Depot, is reached via Flat- 
bush Avenue cars, from Fulton Ferry, and Atlantic Avenue 
cars from South, Wall, and Fulton Ferries. 

Bedford Station is reached via Grand and Roosevelt st. Fer- 
ries, by the Franklin av. cars and rapid transit trains. 

Manhattan Beach.— New York and Manhattan 
Beach Railroad, via Bay Ridge. — The steamer D. R. 
Martin will leave Pier No. i, foot of Whitehall st. (terminus 
of the Elevated Railroads) connecting at Bay Ridge with trains 
for Manhattan Beach, as follows : 9.25, 10.25, 11-25 a.m. ; 12.25, 
1.25, 2.25, 3.25, 4.25, 5.25, 6.25, and 7.25 P.M. Returning, leave 
Manhattan Beach at 8.20, 10.20, 11.20 a.m. ; 12.20, i.ao, 2.20, 
3.20, 4.20, 5.20, 6.20, 7.20, and 8.20 P.M. 

Via Greenpoint. —Ey steamer Sylvan Grove, from foot of 
23d St., E. R., 9.45- IO-45, II-4S A.M.; 12.45, 1.45, 2:45, 3-45, 
4.45, 5.45, 6.45 P.M. Returning, leave Manhattan Beach at 
7.35, 11.05 A.M. ; 12.05, 1-05, 2.05, 3.05, 4.05, S.05, 6.05, 7.05, 

8.05 P.M. 

Via Brooklyn (Greenpoint Division). — Trains for Manhat- 
tan Beach leave Greenpoint at 10 a.m., and every hour there- 
after until 7 p.m. 

Trains from the Beach, for Greenpoint and way stations, 
leave at 11.05 and five minutes past each hour until 8.05 p.m. 



TIME-TABLES. 



Trains leave Humboldt st. 6 minutes, Grand st. lo minutes, 
DeKalb av. 15 minutes. Myrtle av. 18 minutes, and East New 
York 25 minutes after leaving Greenpoint, connecting with 
rapid transit from Flatbush Avenue. 

The Long Island Railroad Company sell tickets at Flatbush 
and Bedford avs., Brooklyn, and on rapid transit trains via 
Atlantic av., for Manhattan Beach. 

Excursion tickets, via rapid transit from Flatbush av., 43 
cts. ; single tickets, 25 cts, 

*** Steamboats will probably commence running every day, 
on Saturday, June 12th, from West 22d st. to Bay Ridge, con- 
necting with regular trains for the Beach as above, leaving 
West 22d St. about one hour before train leaves Bay Ridge, 
and stop at Leroy st. and Pier 6, N. R., each way. 

"West ISrigliton Beach.— Prospect Park and Co- 
ney Island Railroad. — Excursion tickets, 25 cents. Special 
excursion tickets for women and children on all traj.ns to Coney 
Island before 3 p. Mi, and on all returning trains before 6 
P.M.,. IS cents ; (children under twelve, 10 cents). On and 
after Tuesday, June ist, 1880, and until further notice, trains 
will leave the Brooklyn Depot (Ninth av. and Twentieth St., 
Greenwood), 6.30; 7.40, 9, 10 a.m., and half hourly to 1.30 
P.M., and thereafter every 15 minutes until 9 o'clock p.m. 

Returning, will leave West Brighton, 7.05, 8.10, 9.30, 10.30 
A.M., and half hourly to 2 p.m., and thereafter every 15 min- 
utes until 9.30 p.m. 

On rainy day^ trains will only be run half hourly from 10 
A.M. to 9.30 P.M. 

On Sundays the first train will leave the Brooklyn Depot at 
9 A.M. and West Brighton 9.30 a.m. 

The following lines of horse-cars run direct to the depot : 
Park and Vanderbilt Avenue line, from Fulton and Catha- 
rine Ferries via Prospect Park. 

Adams st. and Boerum Place cars via City Hall and Atlan- 
tic Avenue. 

The Hamilton av. Ferry and Jay, Smithy and Ninth st. cars 
connect at Fifteenth st. with the horse-cars of this company, 
and passengers are carried free from Fifteenth st; to the depot. 
iVest-Eiid.,— Brooklyn, Bath, and Coney Island 
Railroad.— Court st. and Third av. cars from Fulton Ferry. 
35 minutes to depot. 

From Hamilton Ferry., Fort Hamilton cars direct to depot 
in twenty minutes. 

Fifth av. line/VtJW South, Wall st. and Fulton Ferries. 
On and after May 9th, 1880, trains leave Green\yood depot, 
cor.' Twenty-seventh st. and Fifth av. (near main entrance 
Greenwood Cemetery) daily at *6.2o, *7.2o, 8.10, 9, 9.50, 10.40, 
11.30, 12.30, 1.30, 2.15, 3, 3.45, 4-3o> 5-iS, 6, 6.50, 7.40, t8.30 
-P.'M; 



TIME- TA BLES. ,113 

t rsiins yrom Coney Island^ 7-30, 8.20, 9.10, 10, 10.50, 11.40, 
12.3s, I-3S. 2.20, 3.05, 3.50, 4.35, 5.20, 6.05, 6.55, 7.45 P.M. 

Fare, round trip, only 25 cents. 

Trains marked * do not run on Sundays. 

Trains marked thus t to Guntherville and way stations. 

Sea Beach.,— New York and Sea Beach Route, via 
Brooklyn^ from Sixty-fifth st. and Third av. Take cars of 
the Court st. and Third av. lines from Fulton Ferry, and the 
Hamilton av. line from Hamilton Ferry, connecting at Sixty- 
fifth St. and Third av., Bay Ridge. 

Trains leave Third av. depot hourly from 9 a.m. till 2 p.m., 
and half hourly from 2 p.m. till 6.30 p.m. 

Last train leaves Sea Beach for Third av. at 7 p.m. 

Excursion tickets, between Brooklyn and Sea Beach, 20 
cents. Single tickets, 15 cents. Children under 12 years of 
age, excursion tickets, 15 cents ; single tickets, 10 cents. 

Via Bay RidgS. — Steamer Idlewild leaves foot W. 24th st., 
9, II A.M., I, 3, 5 P.M., and probably on Sundays hourly from 
9 A.M. to 5 P.M., stopping at W. loth st., Franklin st. and Pier 
I, N.R. (stone pier) connecting at Bay Ridge for the beach. 

Returning trains will leave the beach about 9.30, 11.30 a.m., 
1.30, 3.30, 6 P.M., and on Sundays hourly from 9.30 a.m. to 
4.30 and 6 P.M., connecting at Bay Ridge with boats for New 
York as above. Excursion tickets between New York and 
Sea Beach, 40 cents. 

By Horse Cars.— Fza Jay and Smith sis. and Ham- 
ilton av. Ferry. 

Leazie City Line Depot : 7, 8, 9, 9.40, 10.10, 10.40, 11. 10, 
11.40 A.M., 12.20, 12.40, 1.20, 2, 2.30, 3, 3.30, 4,4.30, 5, 5.40, 
6.20, 6.50, 7.20, 7.50, 8.30, 9, 9.40 P.M. 

Leave Coney Island: 6, 7, 8, 9, 9.30, 10, 10.40, 11. 10, 11.40, 
A.M.; 12.20, 12.50, 1.20, 1.50, 2.20, 3, 3.30, 4, 4.40, 5.10, 5.40, 
6.10, 6.50, 7.30, 8, 8.40, 9.40 P.M. 

Excursion tickets, 15 cents round trip, from City Line. 

Passengers transferred free to and from Ninth av. and Fif- 
teenth St. to City Line. 

STEAMBOATS. 
See also Railroads. 

Iron Pier Direct.— Until further notice the steamers 
John Sylvester and Eliza Hancox will run as follows : 

Leaving Twenty-second st., N. R,, g, 10, 12.15, i>3o? 3'3o> 
4.30. 

Leaving Leroy st.. 9.15, 10.15, 12.30, 1.45, 3.45, 4.45. 

Leaving Pier 8, 9.30, 10.30, 12.45, 2, 4, 5. 

Returning., leave Iron Pier, 10.30, 11.30, 2, 3, 5.30, 6.30. 

Single tickets, 35 qents. Excursion tickets, 50 cents. With 
admission to Pier, 



114 ME MORA NBA . 



CONEY ISLAND CALENDAR. 



"5 



July, 1880. 



Days. 


Sun. 


Moon. 


HighWathr.* 


Mo. 


Week. 


Rises. 


Sets. 


Rises. 


Mim- 
ing. 


After- 
noon. 






H. M. 


H. M, 


H. M. 


H. M. 


H. M. 


1 


Thursday 


4 32 


7 35 


11 





3 15 


2 


Friday 


4 33 


7 35 


42 


_ 


4 10 


3 


Saturday 


4 33 


7 35 


1 18 





5 


4 


l^nl?" 


4 34 


7 34 


1 59 


5 30 


6 


5 


4 35 


7 34 


2 46 


6 20 


6 45 


6 


Tuesday 


4 35 


7 34 


3 39 


7 


7 30 


7 


Wednesday 


4 36 


7 34 


sets. 


7 45 


8 


8 


Thursday 


4 36 


7 33 


8 12 


8 30 


8 45 


9 


Friday 


4 37 


7 33 


8 41 


9 


9 30 


10 


Saturday 


4 38 


733 


9 7 


9 45 


— 


11 


Sunday 

Monday 


4 38 


7 32 


9 32 


10 30 


— 


12 


4 39 


7 32 


9 57 


11 10 


— 


13 


Tuesday 


4 40 


7 31 


10 23 


noon. 





14 


Wednesday 


4 41 


7 31 


10 52 


_ 


12 30 


15 


Thursday 


4 41 


7 30 


11 25 


— 


1 20 


16 


Friday 


442 


7 29 


morn. 


— 


2 15 


17 


Saturday 


4 43 


7 29 


6 


— 


3 20 


18 


Ma?)' 


4 44 


7 28 


56 


— 


4 30 


19 


4 45 


7 27 


1 56 


5 


5 30 


20 


Tuesday 


4 46 


7 27 


3 6 


6 


6 40 


21 


Wednesday 


4 46 


7 26 


rises. 


7 


7 30 


22 


Thursday 


4 47 


7 25 


7 52 


8 


8 30 


23 


Friday 


4 48 


7 24 


8 23 


9 


9 20 


24 


Saturday 


4 49 


7 24 


8 51 


9 50 


— 


25 


Monday 


4 50 


7 23 


9 17 


10 40 


— 


26 


4 51 


7 22 


9 44 


11 30 


— 


27 


Tuesday 


4 52 


7 21 


10 12 


noon. 


— 


28 


Wednesday 


4 53 


7 20 


10 43 


— 


1 


29 


Thursday 


4 54 


7 19 


11 17 


— 


1 45 


30 


Friday 


4 55 


7 18 


11 56 





2 30 


31 


Saturday 


4 56 


7 17 


morn. 


— 


3 30 



Phases of the Moon : New, 7th ; first quarter, l5th ; full, 
21st ; third quarter, 28th. 

* The calculations are based on Negus' " Nautical Alman- 
ac ;" the minutes are averaged approximately. (Only the con- 
venient hours are given.) For directions how to calculate from 
day to day see High Water, in the regular alphabet. 



ii6 



MEMORANDA. 



m 



CONEY ISLAND CALENDAR. 

August, 1880. 



117 



Days. 


Sun. 


Moon, 


High Water!* 


Mo. 


Week. 


Rises. 


Sets. 


Rises. 


Morn- 
ing. 


After- 
noon. 






H. M. 


H. M. 


H. M. 


H. M. 


H. M. 


1 


Sunday 

Monday' 


4 56 


7 16 


041 




4 30 


' 2 


4 57 


7 15 


1 32 


5 


5 30 


3 


Tuesday 


4 58 


7 14 


2 28 


6 


6 20 


4 


Wednesday 


4 59 


7 12 


3 27 


6 45 




5 


Thursday 


5 


7 11 


sets. 


7 20 


7 45 


i 6 


Friday 


5 1 


7 10 


7 11 


8 


8 20 


i ^ 


Saturday 


5 2 


7 9 


7 37 


8 40 


9 


1 8 


Sunday 

Monday 


5 3 


7 8 


8 2 


9 20 


9 45 


1 9 


5 4 


7 6 


8 28 


10 





1 10 


Tuesday 


5 5 


7 5 


8 56 


10 40 





11 


Wednesday 


5 6 


7 4 


9 27 


11 30 


_ 


12 


Thursday 


5 7 


7 2 


10 5 


noon. 





13 


Friday 


5 8 


7 1 


10 50 


— 


1 15 


14 


Saturday 


5 9 


7 


11 44 


. 


2 10 


1.5 


Monday 


5 10 


6 58 


morn. 





3 15 


16 


5 11 


6 57 


48 


_ 


4 20 


17 


Tuesday 


5 12 


6 56 


1 59 





5 30 


18 


Wednesday 


5 13 


6 54 


3 14 


6 


6 30 


19 


Thursday 


5 14 


6 53 


4 29 


7 


7 20 


20 


Friday 


5 15 


6 52 


rises. 


7 45 


8 15 


21 


Saturday 


5 16 


6 50 


7 17 


8 40 


9 


22 


g?„"dt^i' 


5 17 


6 48 


7 44 


9 30 


9 45 


23 


5 18 


6 47 


8 12 


10 20 




24 


Tuesday 


5 19 


6 45 


8 42 


11 





25 


Wednesday 


5 20 


6 44 


9 16 


noon. 





26 


Thursday 


5 21 


6 42 


9 54 




12 35 


27 


Friday 


5 22 


6 41 


10 37 





1 10 


28 


Saturday 


5 23 


6 39 


11 25 





2 


29 


Ma?" 


5 24 


6 38 


morn. 





3 


30 


5 25 6 36 


19 





4 


31 


Tuesday 


5 26 6 34 


1 13 


— 


5 



Phases of the Moon : New, 5th ; first quarter, 13th ; fall, 
20th ; third quarter, 27th. 

* The calculations are based on Negus' "Nautical Alman- 
ac ;" the minutes are averaged approximately. (Only the con- 
venient hours are given.) For directions how to calculate from 
day to day see High Water, in the regular alphabet. 



ii8 


: MEMORANDA. 




\ 



CONEY ISLAND CALENDAR. 



119 



September, 1880. 



Days. 


Sun. 


Moon. 


High Water.* 


Mo. 


Week. 


Rises. 


Sets. 


Rises. 


Morn- 
ing. 


Afterw 
noon. 






H. M. 


H. M. 


H. M. 


H. M. 


H. M. 


1 


Wednesday 


5 27 


6 33 


2 18 


5 20 


5 45 


2 


Thursday 


5 28 


6 31 


3 20 


6 10 


6 30 


3 


Friday 


5 29 


6 30 


4 23 


7 


7 15 


4 


Saturday 


5 30 


6 28 


sets. 


7 35 


8 


5 


Sunday 

Monday 


5 31 


6 26 


6 33 


8 10 


8 30 


6 


5 32 


6 25 


7 


8 45 


9 15 


7 


Tuesday 


5 33 


6 23 


7 31 


9 30 


— 


8 


Wednesday 


5 34 


6 21 


8 6 


10 10 


— 


9 


Thursday 


5 35 


6 20 


8 54 


11 


— 


10 


Friday 


5 36 


6 18 


9 40 


noon. 


— 


11 


Saturday 


5 37 


6 16 


10 39 


— 


1 


12 


fcl^i' 


5 ;:8 


6 15 


11.47 


— 


2 10 


13 


5 39 


6 13 


morn. 


— 


3 20 


14 


Tuesday 


5 40 


6 11 


58 


— 


4 20 


15 


Wednesday 


5 41 


6 10 


2 11 


— 


5 20 


16 


Thursday 


5 42 ; 6 8 


3 23 


5 50 


6 15 


17 


Friday 


5 43 ' 6 6 


4 34 


6 45 


7 10 


18 


Saturday 


5 44 6 4 


rises. 


7 30 


8 


19 


ai?' 


5 45 6 3 


6 12 


8 20 


8 40 


20 


5 46 6 1 


6 41 


9 


9 30 


21 


Tuesday 


5 47 ' 5 59 


7 14 


9 45 


— 


22 


Wednesday 


5 48 5 58 


7 50 


10 30 


— 


23 


Thursday 


5 49 5 56 


8 32 


11 15 


— 


24 


Friday 


5 50 5 54 


9 2 


•noon. 


— 


25 


Saturday 


5 51 5 53 


10 10 


— 


12 45 


26 


^0^^^^ 


5 52 5 51 i 11 6 


— 


1 30 


27 


5 53 5 49 morn. 





2 20 


28 


Tuesday 


5 54 5 48 5 


_ 


3 20 


29 


Wednesday 


5 55 5 46 16 


— 


4 20 


30 


Thursday 


5 56 5 44 2 8 


5 


5 15 



Phases of the Moon : New, 4th ; first quarter. 11th ; full, 
i8th ; third quarter, 26th. 

* The calculations are based on Negus' " Nautical Alman- 
ac ;" the minutes are averaged approximately. (Only the con- 
venient hours are given.) For directions how to calculate from 
day to day see High Water, in the regular alphabet. 



I,20 




MEMORANDA. 






■ ■ -v ■■■ ^ •• : ■ - 



UNITED STATES 

Life 

INSURANCE COMPANY 

In the City of New York. 
(Incdrporated 1850.) 

261, 262, 263, and 264 Broadway, 

NEW YORK. 



Assets, $4,983,226.81 

Surplus, .--.-. 87^,484.06 



T. H. BBOSNAN. President 

C. P. FRALEIGH, GEO. H. BUFORD, 

Secretary. Actuary. 



LIBERAL AND IMPORTANT CONCESSIONS IN 
LIFE INSURANCE CONTRACTS. 



Exmnine the New Form of Policy issued by the United States 
Life Insurance Company before insuring elsewhere. 




Crandairs Baby Carriages. 

The Fifth Avenue and Win(Jsor Baby 
Carriages, just introduced, are without ex- 
ception the most desirable in the market, 
having been awarded the American Insti- 
tute premium in 1879. 

In addition to perfect springs, giving the 
carriage an easy, soothing motion, they 
have the canopy top with rolling curtains, 
readily adjusted and buttoned to the car- 
riage body, affording the inmate complete 
shelter and protection from sun, wind or rain. 

Goods shipped to any locality y wholesale and retail. 

CIRCULARS FREE. 

CRANDALL & CO., 
S69 Tliird A^veniae, NeAV York. 



F. W. CHRISTERN, 

Foreign. Bookeller and Importer, 

37 West 23d St., bet. Fifth and Sixth Aves., 

New York. 



The principal publications of Charpentier, 
Didier, Didot, Hachette, Levy, etc., on hand ; 
also, complete sets of Tauchnitz's collection of 
British Authors and Teubner's Greek and Roman 
Classics. Catalogues mailed on demand. 



European Periodicals received Weekly. 



APPLETONS' 

DICTIONARY OF NEW YORK 

AND VICINITY. 

A Guide on a New Plan. 

Being an alphabetical Index to all Places, Societies , 
Institutions, Amusements, and innumer- 
able matters upon which informa- 
tion is daily needed. 

COMPILED BY 

TOWNSEND PERCY. 
With Maps of New York and Vicinity. 



This Dictionary is an invaluable and indispen- 
sable guide to those visiting New York and vi- 
cinity. It imparts such information as will save 
strangers from being victimized by sharpers, as, 
by a careful study, they will feel perfectly at home 
in any part of the city. 



PRICE, THIRTY CENTS. 



D. APPLETON k CO., Publishers, 

I, 3 AND 5 Bond Street, New York. 



What to Read. 

A full survey of Current Literature, enabling 
any one, at an hour's reading, to make a dis- 
criminate selection of books for himself or his 
friends, or to converse intelligently on the liter- 
ar}' topics of the day, is given in the Literary 
News, issued monthly, subscription price only 
fifty cents per j-ear. 

The regular features of the journal are 

Three Prize Questions 

on choice of books and other literary subjects ; 
(prizes each number, three at $5, $3 and $2 ;) 
the freshest news on books and authors ; lists 
of new publications ; courses of reading ; quo- 
tations and critical comments from leading 
journals ; characteristic extracts ; sketches and 
anecdotes of contemporary authors, etc., etc. 

Any one with taste for books or reading, no 
matter how limited his means or his time, can 
aflord a subscription, and thus contribute to the 
promotion of good home reading. 

Subscription, per year, 50 cents. 

Specimen copy sent free to any address, 

F. LEYPOLDT, Publisher, 

13 and 15 Park Rcw, New York. 
[Over. 



WEBER 

MANUFACTURER OF 

GRAND, SQUARE, and UPRIGHT 

PIANO-FORTES. 

The Best Piano Manufactured. 

USED BY EVERY GREAT ARTIST. 



Prices Reasonable. Terms Easy. 



WAREROOMS : 

Fifth Ave., corner i6th St., 

NEW YORK. 



SSaM9N03 iO AHVHail 



